In Re State Ex Rel. MC

94 P.3d 1220, 2004 WL 742737
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 8, 2004
Docket02CA1888
StatusPublished
Cited by819 cases

This text of 94 P.3d 1220 (In Re State Ex Rel. MC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re State Ex Rel. MC, 94 P.3d 1220, 2004 WL 742737 (Colo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

94 P.3d 1220 (2004)

The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner-Appellee,
In the Interest of M.C., a Child, and
Concerning J.C., Respondent-Appellant.

No. 02CA1888.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. I.

April 8, 2004.

*1221 Bruce T. Barker, County Attorney, Linda L. Goff, Assistant County Attorney, Greeley, Colorado, for Petitioner-Appellee.

Zapor Law Office, P.C., Rose Mary Zapor, Denver, Colorado; Larry Dean Valente, Westminster, Colorado, for Respondent-Appellant.

Opinion by Judge TAUBMAN.

J.C. (father) appeals from the judgment terminating the parent-child legal relationship with his daughter, M.C. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

M.C. was born in Texas of the relationship between M.T. (mother), and J.C. While both parents were living in Texas, father obtained *1222 a temporary restraining order preventing mother from taking M.C. from father, changing M.C.'s residence from Santa Fe, Texas, withdrawing M.C. from school or day care, and removing M.C. beyond the jurisdiction of the Texas court.

In November 2000, father took his daughter to visit mother, who had moved to Colorado. During this visit, father was jailed briefly for creating a public disturbance at mother's workplace. As a result, a petition in dependency and neglect was filed against both parents on November 30, 2000. The petition did not advise the court of the Texas restraining order.

However, because of the Texas restraining order, the Weld County Department of Social Services concluded that M.C. could not be placed with mother, and, instead, she was placed in the temporary custody of the department.

Father requested that counsel be appointed to represent him, but this request was denied based on his income. Father appeared pro se and the dependency and neglect proceeding continued, resulting in the magistrate terminating both parents' parental rights in February 2002. Father sought review of the magistrate's decision and in August 2002 the district court adopted the magistrate's order.

Mother has not appealed the termination of her parental rights.

After the parties submitted their initial appellate briefs, we noted that documents filed by the department of social services indicated that a Texas restraining order was in effect when this proceeding commenced. Because we concluded that the determination of our subject matter jurisdiction might depend upon the existence of a restraining order in Texas and the duration of such order, we issued an order of limited remand. We directed the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing and make findings of fact and conclusions of law on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), § 14-13-101, et seq., C.R.S.2003. See People in Interest of Clinton, 762 P.2d 1381 (Colo.1988)(any requirement implicating the court's subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived and can be raised at any time).

Following a hearing, the district court concluded that Texas was M.C.'s home state and that the district judge and the magistrate had temporary emergency jurisdiction to hear the dependency and neglect proceedings, notwithstanding the existence of the Texas restraining order at the time this matter was filed. The appeal was then recertified to us, and at our request, the parties submitted supplemental briefs on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction.

Concluding that the district court exceeded its limited temporary emergency jurisdiction when this matter was filed, we now reverse.

I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under UCCJEA

Effective July 1, 2000, the UCCJEA replaced its predecessor, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA). The UCCJEA was enacted to revise the law on child custody jurisdiction in light of federal enactments and over almost thirty years of inconsistent case law under the UCCJA. Part 2 of the UCCJEA is intended to provide clearer standards for the exercise of original jurisdiction over a child custody determination, enunciate a standard of continuing jurisdiction, and clarify modification jurisdiction. See § 14-13-101 prefatory note.

Generally, a Colorado court has jurisdiction to make an initial child-custody determination if Colorado is the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the child within six months before the commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state but a parent or person acting as a parent continues to live in this state. See § 14-13-201(1)(a), C.R.S.2003. Under the UCCJEA, the "home state" means the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding. Under the UCCJEA, the court that makes the initial custody determination generally retains exclusive continuing jurisdiction until the child and both parents leave the state or no longer have a significant connection with the state. See In re Marriage *1223 of Pritchett, 80 P.3d 918 (Colo.App.2003).

As relevant here, the UCCJEA also seeks to eliminate the simultaneous exercise of jurisdiction over custody disputes by more than one state. See In re Marriage of Pritchett, supra. Additionally, the UCCJEA specifies various circumstances when a court outside the home state may exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction to protect a child from the threat of immediate mistreatment or abuse. See § 14-13-204, C.R.S.2003.

A. Simultaneous Proceedings

Father contends that, apart from temporary emergency jurisdiction, the magistrate lacked subject matter jurisdiction under the UCCJEA to hear the dependency and neglect proceeding. We agree.

With respect to simultaneous proceedings, the UCCJEA, § 14-13-206, C.R.S.2003, provides, in pertinent part:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in section 14-13-204 [temporary emergency jurisdiction], a court of this state may not exercise its jurisdiction under this Part 2 if, at the time of the commencement of the proceeding, a proceeding concerning custody of the child has been commenced in a court of another state having jurisdiction substantially in conformity with this article, unless the proceeding has been terminated or is stayed by the court of the other state because a court of this state is a more convenient forum....
(2) Except as otherwise provided in section 14-13-204, a court of this state, before hearing a child-custody proceeding, shall examine the court documents and other information supplied by the parties pursuant to section 14-13-209. If the court determines that a child-custody proceeding has been commenced in a court in another state having jurisdiction substantially in accordance with a provision of law adopted by that state that is in substantial conformity with this article, the court of this state shall stay its proceeding and communicate with the court of the other state.

Thus, if a child-custody proceeding was pending in Texas when the dependency and neglect action was filed here, the Colorado court would not have had jurisdiction unless the Texas proceeding had been terminated or stayed by the Texas court, because Colorado was a more convenient forum, or unless there was a basis for exercising emergency jurisdiction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
94 P.3d 1220, 2004 WL 742737, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-state-ex-rel-mc-coloctapp-2004.