J.B. v. State

849 N.E.2d 714, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1199, 2006 WL 1726514
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 26, 2006
DocketNo. 52A02-0601-JV-24
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 849 N.E.2d 714 (J.B. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.B. v. State, 849 N.E.2d 714, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1199, 2006 WL 1726514 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

BARNES, Judge.

Case Summary

J.B. challenges the trial court’s order committing him to the Department of Correction (“DOC”) following a probation violation. We affirm.

Issues

J.B. raises two issues for our review, which we reorder as:

I. whether the trial court erred by considering information contained in a predispositional report when ordering J.B.’s commitment to the DOC; and
II. whether the trial court abused its discretion by committing J.B. to the DOC.

Facts

The facts most favorable to the trial court’s order indicate that now fifteen-year-old J.B. has a history of juvenile delinquency that began when he was eleven year’s old and a history of substance abuse that began when he was seven years old. In 2002 J.B. was placed on informal probation for committing acts that would have constituted conversion if committed by an adult. In 2003 he was again placed on informal probation for possessing marijuana. In 2004 J.B. admitted to committing acts that would have constituted burglary if committed by an adult. As a result of that admission, J.B. was placed on supervised probation, to serve five weekends in the Robert J. Kinsey Youth Center, and to pay restitution. On March 4, 2005, the State alleged that J.B. had tested positive for marijuana in violation of the terms of his probation. J.B. admitted the allegation and was ordered to continue serving supervised probation, to perform fifty hours of community service, and to serve fifteen days in the Robert J. Kinsey Youth Center.

On May 23, 2005, the Howard County probation department filed a petition to modify the terms of J.B.’s probation alleging that he had committed what would have constituted Class D felony theft if he were an adult. J.B. admitted the allegation on July 11, 2005 at a hearing in Howard County. The Howard County trial court, sua sponte, transferred the disposition of what appears to be the petition to modify probation to Miami County. On December 14, 2005, the Miami County trial court ordered J.B. to be committed to the DOC.

[716]*716At the December 14, 2005 dispositional hearing in Miami County, J.B. submitted for the trial court’s consideration a predis-positional report that was prepared by Howard County probation officer Kim Gerber. At the same dispositional hearing, and over J.B.’s objection, the State submitted an additional, updated predispo-sitional report written by Miami County probation officer Mandy Miller. Miller’s report recommended that J.B. be committed to the DOC and did not mention alternative placements. Both Gerber and Miller testified regarding their opinions of where J.B. should be committed. The trial court then ordered J.B.’s commitment to the DOC. J.B. appeals.

Analysis

I. Miami County Predispositional Report

J.B. contends that his disposition should be vacated because the predisposi-tional report submitted by the Miami County probation department did not include a description of all dispositional options the probation officer considered in preparing her report. This appears to be an issue of first impression. Indiana Code Section 31-37-17-6.1, which governs the content of predispositional reports, provides in part:

(a) The predispositional report prepared by a probation officer or caseworker shall include the following information:
(1) A description of all dispositional options considered in preparing the report.
(2) An evaluation of each of the options considered in relation to the plan of care, treatment, rehabilitation, or placement recommended under the guidelines described in section 4 of this chapter.

Miller prepared the report in this ease on behalf of the Miami County probation department, and, in the “Recommendations” section of her report wrote:

Based on the juvenile’s extensive history with the juvenile justice system, continued use [of] marijuana, and increasingly serious offense pattern, this officer recommends the juvenile be placed at the Indiana Department of Corrections, Juvenile Division on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. It is additionally recommended, pending placement in said facility, the juvenile be placed in secure detention.

App. p. 96. We conclude that Miller’s predispositional report complies with the requirements set forth in Indiana Code Section 31-37-17-6.1.

At his disposition hearing, J.B. objected to Miller’s report and questioned Miller regarding her decision to discuss only the DOC in that report. Miller stated, “As far as options considered I did not include Fairbanks.” 1 Tr. p. 29. When questioned about the statutory requirements for her report, Miller continued, “You’re required to list things that you considered, yes. And what I consider based on his history is listed.” Id. at 30. The trial court then asked Miller, “Did you consider any other options?” Id. at 31. Miller responded, “I can say that I did not consider Fairbanks until his parents, I mean until today, until that was brought up. His parents brought it to Court and that’s when Fairbanks was considered. I did not consider that facility. If that’s the question.” Id. The Court then stated, “It seems to me that she’s included what she has thought about.” Id.

[717]*717During this exchange with Miller, the trial court stated, “Are we talking about every single option available in the State of Indiana?” Id. at 32. Along a similar vein, the State’s appellate brief argues, “the mere existence of such alternatives and their presentation to the trial court does not dictate that the probation officer’s report is deficient in its failure to include or evaluate those options.” Appellee’s Br. p. 8.

We agree with this common-sense approach — the statute does not require that a predispositional report provide information about every single placement option that is conceivably available to a juvenile. The statute mandates that a predisposi-tional report provide, “A description of all dispositional options considered in preparing the report.” I.C. 31-37-17-6.1. Miller unequivocally testified that she considered only the DOC as a placement option for J.B., and that is the option she discussed in her report. In so doing, she complied with the statute.

II. Placement in the DOC

J.B. further argues that the trial court abused its discretion by ordering his commitment to the DOC. The disposition of a child adjudicated to be delinquent is generally left to the discretion of the trial court. R.S. v. State, 796 N.E.2d 360, 364 (Ind.Ct.App.2003), trans. denied. That discretion, however, is subject to the statutory considerations of the child’s welfare, the community’s safety, and the policy of favoring the least-harsh disposition. Id.; see also Ind.Code § 31-37-18-6.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
849 N.E.2d 714, 2006 Ind. App. LEXIS 1199, 2006 WL 1726514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jb-v-state-indctapp-2006.