In re Interest of Mechi J.

Nebraska Supreme Court·Decided May 22, 2026·No. S-25-393, S-25-394·Published

Opinion

Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/ 05/22/2026 08:08 AM CDT

- 455 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports IN RE INTEREST OF MECHI J. Cite as 321 Neb. 455

In re Interest of Mechi J., a child under 18 years of age. State of Nebraska, appellee, v. Mechi J., appellant. ___ N.W.3d ___

Filed May 22, 2026. Nos. S-25-393, S-25-394.

1. Juvenile Courts: Appeal and Error. Ordinarily, an appellate court reviews juvenile cases de novo on the record and reaches a conclusion independent of the juvenile court’s findings. 2. Statutes: Appeal and Error. Statutory interpretation presents a ques- tion of law which an appellate court reviews independently of the lower court. 3. Constitutional Law: Due Process. The determination of whether the procedures afforded an individual comport with constitutional require- ments for procedural due process presents a question of law. 4. Juvenile Courts: Statutes: Jurisdiction. As a statutorily created court of limited jurisdiction, a juvenile court has only the authority conferred upon it by statute. 5. Juvenile Courts: Statutes: Jurisdiction: Appeal and Error. When considering whether a juvenile court acted within its authority, an appel- late court will look to the authority conferred by statute. 6. Statutes: Words and Phrases. Basic principles of statutory interpreta- tion generally require a court to give statutory language its plain and ordinary meaning. 7. Appeal and Error: Words and Phrases. Appellate courts often turn to dictionaries to ascertain a word’s plain and ordinary meaning. 8. Statutes: Words and Phrases. When legal terms of art are used in stat- utes, they are to be construed according to their term of art meaning. 9. Words and Phrases. A legal term of art is a word or phrase having a specific, precise meaning in a given specialty apart from its general meaning in ordinary contexts. - 456 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports IN RE INTEREST OF MECHI J. Cite as 321 Neb. 455

10. Statutes: Words and Phrases. In construing statutory language, an appellate court attempts to give effect to all parts of a statute and avoids rejecting as superfluous or meaningless any word, clause, or sentence. 11. Constitutional Law: Due Process. The U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions provide that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property with- out due process of law. 12. Due Process: Words and Phrases. While the concept of due process defies precise definition, it embodies and requires fundamental fairness. 13. Due Process. Where a state must act quickly, or where it would be impractical to provide predeprivation process, postdeprivation process satisfies the requirement of the Due Process Clause. 14. Due Process: Claims. A party fails to state a viable procedural due process claim when adequate postdeprivation procedures were available but the party failed to invoke them.

Appeals from the Separate Juvenile Court of Douglas County: Vernon Daniels, Judge. Affirmed.

Thomas C. Riley, Douglas County Public Defender, Lauren A. Walag, and Hilary A. Drawz, for appellant.

Daniel R. Gubler, Deputy Douglas County Attorney, and Trenton E. Hoeft, Senior Certified Law Student, for appellee.

Funke, C.J., Cassel, Stacy, Papik, Freudenberg, Bergevin, and Vaughn, JJ.

Funke, C.J. INTRODUCTION In these consolidated appeals, a juvenile challenges the orders of the separate juvenile court of Douglas County, Nebraska, terminating the court’s jurisdiction and the juve- nile’s probation and directing that the juvenile’s records not be sealed. The juvenile claims that in so ordering, the court failed to comply with a Nebraska statute and deprived him of due process. Finding no merit to those arguments, we affirm the orders of the juvenile court. - 457 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports IN RE INTEREST OF MECHI J. Cite as 321 Neb. 455

BACKGROUND Mechi J. was born in September 2006. At 17 years of age, Mechi was adjudicated pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(2) (Cum. Supp. 2024) in two separate juvenile cases and ulti- mately placed on probation. As relevant here, on October 18, 2024, hearings were held in both cases. At those hearings, Mechi asked that a termina- tion date be set for his probation. The court indicated that it would consider the results of a predisposition investigation and a co-occurring evaluation that had been completed and make orders and findings at a later time. The court then stated that because of Mechi’s age, “if [Mechi didn’t] comply,” the court’s remedies were “probably limited to not sealing [his] records.” Mechi agreed that this gave him “some incentive . . . to do what [was] ordered of [him].” Several days later, on October 21, 2024, the court entered orders directing, in relevant part: • Mechi shall remain on probation for a period of 6 months, “unless sooner extended or revoked for cause,” • Mechi’s record shall be “sealed, if there are no objections, at the time [he] successfully completes probation,” • Mechi’s probation shall “automatically terminate” on April 28, 2025, “unless application for a hearing is made prior thereto,” and • Mechi shall pay $71 in court costs by November 30, 2024. We hereinafter refer to these orders as the “October 2024 orders.” The record before us on appeal reflects no payment of the court costs and no further hearings or filings between October 21, 2024, and April 29, 2025. Then, on April 29, the court filed orders in both cases, stating that the matters had come before it for “probation check hearing[s]” on April 28. In those orders, which are hereinafter referred to as the “April 2025 orders,” the court terminated its jurisdiction and Mechi’s probation and directed that Mechi’s records not be sealed at that time, because the court costs had not been paid. - 458 - Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets 321 Nebraska Reports IN RE INTEREST OF MECHI J. Cite as 321 Neb. 455

Notably, the court did not characterize the termination of its jurisdiction or Mechi’s probation as “unsuccessful” or other- wise. Nor did the court indicate upon what evidence it relied in concluding that the court costs had not been paid. Mechi appealed in both cases, and we moved the consoli- dated cases to our docket. 1

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR Mechi assigns, restated and reordered, that the juvenile court erred in terminating its jurisdiction and his probation “unsatisfactorily” and in ordering that his records not be sealed, because it failed to comply with the requirements of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-286 (Cum. Supp. 2024) and procedural due process.

STANDARD OF REVIEW [1] Ordinarily, an appellate court reviews juvenile cases de novo on the record and reaches a conclusion independent of the juvenile court’s findings. 2 In their briefs on appeal, both parties indicated that this was the appropriate standard of review here. However, at oral arguments, the State argued that in In re Interest of Johnny H., 3 which was decided after the parties’ briefs in these cases were filed, we reviewed a similar case de novo on the record for an abuse of discretion. The State suggests that review de novo on the record for an abuse of discretion is different from review de novo on the record and that the former standard should apply here. We need not resolve those questions because for the reasons set forth below, we see no error under any standard. 4 1 See Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1106(3) (Cum. Supp. 2024). 2 See, e.g., In re Interest of Victor L., 309 Neb. 21, 958 N.W.2d 413 (2021). 3 In re Interest of Johnny H., 320 Neb.

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