People ex rel. D.P.

181 P.3d 403, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 242
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 21, 2008
DocketNo. 07CA1342
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 181 P.3d 403 (People ex rel. D.P.) 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
People ex rel. D.P., 181 P.3d 403, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 242 (Colo. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge FURMAN.

M.S. (father) appeals from a judgment terminating the parent-child legal relationship between him and his child, D.P. We affirm.

I. Background

In July 2002, a Rhode Island court entered a judgment awarding mother and father joint legal custody of the child and placing the child with mother. The judgment was modified by the Rhode Island court in November 2004, allowing mother to relocate to Colorado with the child.

In May 2006, the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services (Department) became involved with the family after receiving a report that mother and stepfather were using methamphetamine in the home. In August 2006, the child, who was approximately four years old, was adjudicated dependent or neglected because father, who lived in Rhode Island, admitted the child was homeless, without proper care, or not domiciled with him through no fault of his own. At that time, the court approved a treatment plan requiring father to (1) cooperate with a home study pursuant to the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (ICPC), §§ 24-60-1801 to -1803, C.R.S.2007; (@) maintain contact with the caseworker; and (8) visit with the child. In January 2007, the court modified the treatment plan to require father to participate in a substance abuse evaluation.

In April 2007, the Department filed a motion to terminate the parent-child legal relationship because father did not comply with the treatment plan. In its motion, the Department asked the trial court to communi[406]*406cate with the Rhode Island court and to resolve any potential jurisdictional issues. Father did not respond to this motion. One month later, father filed in the Rhode Island court a combined motion for a temporary restraining order and modification of custody.

During a telephone conference between the courts, the Rhode Island court indicated it would defer jurisdiction to the Colorado court. Although father's Colorado and Rhode Island counsel were immediately notified of the conference, neither father nor his Rhode Island counsel appeared the following day at the Rhode Island court's hearing on father's pending motions and jurisdiction. During the hearing, the Rhode Island court concluded jurisdiction was proper in Colorado and dismissed father's case without prejudice.

On June 27, 2007, the Colorado trial court held a termination hearing. At the hearing, father's Colorado counsel asked for a continuance, alleging that she, father's Rhode Island counsel, and father, who did not appear personally, had not seen a copy of the Rhode Island court's order, and thus believed jurisdiction still was at issue. Counsel for father, however, admitted that father had notice of the proceeding to terminate parental rights. The trial court found there was not good cause to continue the hearing and denied the request. The trial court also found that the Rhode Island court had deferred jurisdiction to it, and the Colorado court then ordered the parental relationship between father and child terminated.

On appeal, father raises two challenges to the termination order. First, he contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter the order because it did not follow the procedures set forth in the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act: (UC-CJEA), §§ 14-18-101 to -408, C.R.S.2007. Second, he contends there was not sufficient evidence to support the termination order. We address and reject each contention in turn.

I. The UCCJEA

Father contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter the termination order because it did not comply with the procedures set forth in the UCCJEA. We disagree.

The UCCJEA addresses whether a Colorado court or a non-Colorado court has jurisdiction in child custody proceedings. See §§ 14-13-101 to -408. Section 14-183-110(1), C.R.S.2007, allows a Colorado court to communicate with a court in another state concerning a proceeding arising under the UCCJEA. "Whether a trial court has subject matter jurisdiction over a UCCJEA proceeding presents a question of law that is reviewed de novo on appeal." In re Marriage of Pritchett, 80 P.3d 918, 920 (Colo.App.2008).

A. Making and Accessing the Record

Father contends the trial erred in not making a record of its telephone communication with the Rhode Island court, and, alternatively, assuming such a record was made, in denying him access to the record. We disagree.

Pursuant to section 14-18-110(4) of the UCCJEA, a record must be made of all communications between courts concerning proceedings that arise under the UCCJEA exeept for those involving schedules, calendars, court records, and similar matters. "'[RJlecord' means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form." § 14-13-110(5), C.R.S.2007. The record may be "a memorandum or an electronic record made by a court after the communication." § 14-13-110 official emt.

The Rhode Island court made a transcript of its hearing on the issues of father's pending motions and jurisdiction. This transeript contains information that the Colorado court had communicated to the Rhode Island court. According to the transcript, the Colorado court informed the Rhode Island court that, at the time of the communication, (1) the child had lived in Colorado for more than two years; (2) the child was the subject of a termination proceeding based on events that had occurred in Colorado; and (8) father had been timely notified of the Colorado termination proceeding.

[407]*407This transcript is a record of the communication between the Colorado court and the Rhode Island court that satisfies section 14-13-110 for two reasons. First, because seetion 14-13-110 does not specify which court must make the record, the statute is satisfied if either the Colorado court or the non-Colorado court makes the record. See In re CT., 100 Cal. 101, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 897, 907 (2002). Second, father knew of the facts discussed during the communication, cited in the transcript, and relied on by the Rhode Island court in determining jurisdiction, and he has not contested their validity. See Chick v. Chick, 164 N.C.App. 444, 596 S.E.2d 303, 310-11 (2004). Therefore, because the transcript is inscribed on a tangible medium, it satisfies the statute. See § 14-13-110(5).

After the telephone conference, the trial court entered a minute order reflecting that its law clerk spoke with the Rhode Island judge, jurisdiction would be deferred to Colorado, and, thus, it did not need to speak with the Rhode Island judge directly. This minute order also is a record of the communication that satisfies the statute because it is stored in an electronic medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See § 14-13-110(5); cf. People in Interest of J.M., 74 P.3d 475, 477 (Colo.App.20083) (record sufficient to establish children were adjudicated dependent or neglected included a minute order).

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Bluebook (online)
181 P.3d 403, 2008 Colo. App. LEXIS 242, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-dp-coloctapp-2008.