Juvenile Officer v. C.L.

994 S.W.2d 60, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 783, 1999 WL 364292
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 8, 1999
DocketNos. WD 56054, WD 56055 and WD 56257
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 994 S.W.2d 60 (Juvenile Officer v. C.L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Juvenile Officer v. C.L., 994 S.W.2d 60, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 783, 1999 WL 364292 (Mo. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

ULRICH, Judge.

C.L. appeals the judgments of the juvenile court, in this consolidated appeal, placing the permanent custody of her minor son, M.G.L., in his paternal grandmother, and the permanent custody of her minor son, D.J.W., in his natural father. She also appeals the judgment of the juvenile court releasing M.G.L. from the jurisdiction of the court. C.L. claims that she was denied due process of law because the court entered the judgments without affording her notice and an opportunity to be heard. The judgments of the juvenile court are affirmed in part and reversed in part.

On June 18, 1992, and August 10, 1992, the juvenile officer filed amended petitions alleging that M.G.L., a male child born December 13, 1989, and D.J.W., a male child born March 31, 1988, were without proper care, custody and support. The petitions asserted that the children’s mother, C.L., and their father, M.L., were incapable of properly caring for the children because the parents suffered from chronic paranoid personality disorder and chronic paranoid schizophrenia, respectively, which conditions are manifested in chronic, violent emotional outbursts. The petitions further alleged that D.J.W. displayed severe speech and other developmental delays for which C.L. neglected and refused to obtain evaluations and treatment. Following a hearing on the petitions, the juvenile court entered orders on January 29, 1993, finding that the children were in need of care and treatment and taking jurisdiction of them. The court placed M.G.L. and D.J.W. in the custody of their maternal grandmother under the supervision of the Division of Family Services (DFS). Finally, the court retained jurisdiction of the children and ordered a hearing in one year to review the order of disposition.

The January 1993 disposition orders remained in full force and effect until March 6,1995, when the juvenile court terminated the orders concerning placement only and placed custody of the two minor boys in C.L. under the supervision of the DFS. In its March 1995 orders, the court again retained jurisdiction of the children and ordered a hearing in one year to review the orders.

On May 1, 1996, the children were detained in the custody of the DFS by orders of the juvenile court at the request of the juvenile officer pending a hearing on petitions or motions. The juvenile officer filed amended motions to modify the March 1995 orders on June 7, 1996, alleging that the children were without proper care, custody and support. The motions asserted that on April 12, 1996, the children were taken into protective custody at a bar/bowling alley by police officers who found C.L. on a bar stool, intoxicated and unconscious and subsequently abusive towards the officers.

[62]*62A hearing was held on the motions to modify on December 5, 1996. After receipt of evidence, the court found that the children were in need of care and treatment and ordered placement of the children in the custody of C.L. and the DFS jointly. The court also ordered the implementation of Family Preservation Services and a psychological evaluation of C.L. The juvenile court also authorized the DFS to immediately remove the children from C.L.’s custody if C.L. consumes alcohol at any time. Finally, the court set a hearing in January 1997 to review the orders.

Hearings were held in January and February 1997 to review the December 1996 disposition orders. At each hearing, the juvenile court received evidence and ordered that the orders remain in full force and effect. The court then set a review hearing for January 1998.

The juvenile officer filed motions to accelerate review of the disposition orders on March 14, 1997, however, because the children had been removed from C.L.’s custody due to her use of alcohol. In August 1997, a hearing was held to review the December 1996 orders. Following receipt of evidence, the juvenile court terminated the orders of disposition as to placement only on August 25, 1997. It then ordered M.G.L. placed in the custody of his paternal grandmother and D.J.W. placed in the custody of his father under the supervision of the DFS. The court again retained jurisdiction of the children and ordered a hearing in one year to review the orders.

C.L. filed motions for judicial hearing to address her visitation with the children on September 15, 1997. On September 22, 1997, the juvenile court, on its own motion, set a hearing for October 23, 1997, to review the August 25, 1997 disposition orders. The hearing on the orders was continued until January 12, 1998. Following receipt of evidence, the court entered three orders. First, it ordered that the August 1997 orders remained in full force and effect including the placement of the children. Second, the juvenile court ordered the DFS to secure a therapeutic assessment regarding the efficacy of C.L.’s supervised visitation with the children. Finally, the court ordered a hearing in February 1998 to review the orders of disposition.

The February 1998 hearing was continued, however, and on May 15, 1998, a hearing was held to review the January 1998 orders of disposition. After receiving evidence, the juvenile court ordered that the prior orders of disposition remained in full force and effect. It found that permanent1 custody of M.G.L. in his paternal grandmother and of D.J.W. in his father would serve the children’s best interests. The court also set a hearing in November 1998 to review the orders of disposition. Judgement was entered accordingly on June 4,1998.

The DFS filed a request for release of jurisdiction on June 9, 1998, praying that the court release its jurisdiction over M.G.L. The juvenile court entered its order releasing M.G.L. from its jurisdiction on June 11,1998, finding that the child was no longer in need of the services of the court. On August 24, 1998, the judgment was entered accordingly. This appeal followed.

In her first point on appeal, C.L. claims that the juvenile court erred in entering its judgments placing the custody of M.G.L. with his paternal grandmother and the custody of D.J.W. with his natural father. She contends that she was denied due process of law in that the judgments were entered without affording her notice that the court would be addressing the issue of custody of the boys and the opportunity to be heard on the issue. Specifically, she claims that she only received notice that [63]*63the court would be addressing the issue of visitation.

Review of juvenile court proceedings is analogous to review of court-tried cases. In Interest of T.B., 936 S.W.2d 913, 914 (Mo.App. W.D.1997). The judgment of the juvenile court is affirmed unless no substantial evidence supports it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Id.

Section 211.031.1, RSMo 1994, confers exclusive original jurisdiction in the juvenile court in proceedings:

(1) Involving any child or person seventeen years of age who may be a resident of or found within the county and who is alleged to be in need of care and treatment because:

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994 S.W.2d 60, 1999 Mo. App. LEXIS 783, 1999 WL 364292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/juvenile-officer-v-cl-moctapp-1999.