J.V. v. Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res. (Ex parte Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.)

252 So. 3d 1098
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedOctober 6, 2017
Docket2160947
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 252 So. 3d 1098 (J.V. v. Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res. (Ex parte Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.V. v. Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res. (Ex parte Marshall Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.), 252 So. 3d 1098 (Ala. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

THOMAS, Judge.

The Marshall County Department of Human Resources ("DHR") has petitioned this court for a writ of mandamus directed to the Marshall Juvenile Court ("the juvenile court") requiring that court to cancel an evidentiary hearing set for October 16, 2017, and to order preparation of the transcripts of two hearings, which were held on May 1, 2017, and June 21, 2017. This matter has been before this court on six other occasions: Marshall County Department of Human Resources v. J.V., 152 So.3d 370 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014) ; Marshall County Department of Human Resources v. J.V., 203 So.3d 1243 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) (" J.V. I"); Ex parte Marshall County Department of Human Resources, 234 So.3d 519 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) (" J.V. II");1

*1100Ex parte Marshall County Department of Human Resources, 231 So.3d 325 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016) (mandamus petition denied by order) (table); Ex parte Marshall County Department of Human Resources (No. 2160757, July 10, 2017), --- So.3d ---- (Ala. Civ. App. 2017) (mandamus petition granted by order) (table); and Marshall County Department of Human Resources v. J.V. (No. 2160761, July 14, 2017), --- So.3d ---- (Ala. Civ. App. 2017) (appeal dismissed by order) (table).

This matter began in 2009, when DHR removed J.V.V. ("the child") from the custody of M.M.T. ("the mother") and placed the child in foster care. J.V. I, 203 So.3d at 1244. J.V. ("the father") resided in Florida when the child was removed from the mother's custody. Id. The father was awarded supervised visitation with the child in 2010 and unsupervised visitation with the child in December 2010 and January 2011. Id. The foster parents with whom the child was living accused the father of sexually abusing the child. Id. The father was criminally charged; however, the charges were later dropped. Id. at 1245. While the criminal charges were pending, the father spent 17 months in jail between October 2011 and February 2013. After the criminal charges were dropped, the father was transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana on an immigration hold, where he remained until September 2014, when he was released; he then moved to Georgia. Id. Although DHR had sought the termination of the father's parental rights during that period, the juvenile court had denied DHR's petition. Id.

In November 2014, the father filed a petition in the juvenile court seeking custody of the child. Id. The juvenile court, after a trial, entered an order in December 2014 requiring DHR to prepare a plan to transition custody of the child to the father and to have a home study performed on the father's home in Georgia. Id. However, that order was not a final custody judgment because it did not transfer custody of the child to the father but, rather, set the matter " 'for further review on disposition.' " Id. at 1246. Further review hearings were held on March 23, 2015, and May 12, 2015, to develop the transition plan. A May 2015 order indicated that physical custody of the child would be placed with the father on July 27, 2015, if Georgia approved the father's home for placement after a home study. Id.

On June 23, 2015, DHR moved for an evidentiary hearing. Id. at 1247. In its motion, DHR explained that Georgia had not approved the father's home for placement and that the child was not prepared to transition to the father's home. Id. After the requested hearing, the juvenile court entered a judgment on July 2, 2015, which ordered that legal and physical custody of the child be transferred to the father and that the transfer of physical custody occur no later than July 27, 2015, as required by the May 2015 order. Id. DHR appealed from that judgment. Id. We affirmed the judgment insofar as it awarded custody of the child to the father. Id. at 1253. However, we reversed the judgment insofar as it ordered the transition of custody to take place in July 2015, explaining that, based on the evidence before the juvenile court, "the father and the child do not have a relationship strong enough to accomplish the transition of custody" and concluding that "the child's best interest would [not] be served by immediately awarding custody to the father." Id. at 1254.

*1101Upon remand, the juvenile court entered an order on April 3, 2016, in which it outlined a transition plan to which the parties had agreed. J.V. II

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Related

Ex parte Limestone Cnty. Dep't of Human Res.
255 So. 3d 210 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 2017)

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Bluebook (online)
252 So. 3d 1098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jv-v-marshall-cnty-dept-of-human-res-ex-parte-marshall-cnty-dept-alacivapp-2017.