State ex rel. Furnas v. Monnin

898 N.E.2d 573, 120 Ohio St. 3d 279
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided October 30, 2008·No. No. 2008-1598·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinions

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} This is an original action for a writ of prohibition to prevent a juvenile court judge from proceeding in a parentage action and to direct him to dismiss the case and vacate all orders contained therein. We deny the writ because even after a final decree of adoption is entered, a juvenile court judge does not patently and unambiguously lack jurisdiction to determine paternity solely for the limited purpose of allowing the putative father to exercise his statutory rights under R.C. 3107.09 and 3107.091 if he is determined to be the biological father. Those statutes allow a biological father to provide information regarding his social and medical history for placement in the child’s adoption records.

Petition to Adopt Child Filed in Probate Court

{¶ 2} On July 14, 2007, Tracy Kay Rapp gave birth to a child in Springfield, Ohio. On August 7, 2007, Tracy Rapp appeared before the Clark County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, pursuant to R.C. 5103.16(D) and requested that the child be placed for adoption with relators, Kevin Jay Furnas and Terrie Jean Furnas. On that same date, relators filed a petition in the probate court to adopt the child. In their petition, relators specified that the consent of any putative father was not required because no person had timely registered on the Putative Father Registry under R.C. 3107.062.

Juvenile Court Parentage Case and Stay of Probate Court Adoption Case

{¶ 3} On November 13, 2007, the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services, CSEA Division (“the department”) filed a complaint to determine [280]*280parentage in the Clark County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, Juvenile Section, alleging that Sonny J. Frederick is the father of the child and requesting that the juvenile court order that Tracy Rapp, Sonny Frederick, and the child submit to genetic testing. According to a subsequent filing by the department in the paternity case, Frederick had twice refused to consent to the adoption and had contacted the department in August 2007, after he had experienced difficulty in attempting to determine whether he was the child’s biological father.

{¶ 4} In November 2007, the department filed an objection in the probate court adoption case and sought a stay of that case until the juvenile court determined the biological father of the child, and the probate court stayed the adoption proceeding. The department then added relators as parties to the paternity case.

{¶ 5} In December 2007, relators filed in the probate court a motion to remove the stay, to strike the department’s objection, and to enter a judgment finding that the consent of the putative father is not required in the adoption case. Relators also filed a motion to dismiss the parentage action in juvenile court. Relators argued that because the probate court had first invoked its jurisdiction to decide all legal rights regarding the child, the juvenile court lacked any jurisdiction in the paternity case.

Probate Court Adoption Decree

{¶ 6} The probate court granted relators’ motion and removed the stay. On February 11, 2008, the probate court issued a final decree of adoption, which granted relators’ petition for adoption and changed the name of the minor child to Morgan Jay Furnas. The decree was not appealed. Later that same month, respondent, Clark County Juvenile Court Judge Joseph N. Monnin, denied relators’ motion to dismiss the paternity action after relators’ counsel failed to appear for a hearing. A notice of adoption was subsequently filed with the juvenile court.

Contempt of Court

{¶ 7} Thereafter, the department filed a motion in the juvenile court to find relators in contempt of court for failure to present the child for genetic testing. Relators filed a second motion to dismiss the paternity case. On July 17, 2008, Judge Monnin found relators in contempt of the court’s March 18, 2008 order for genetic testing and ordered that relators pay a $250 fine and present the child for genetic testing on August 6, 2008. Both Rapp and Frederick had already submitted to genetic testing. On July 23, relators appealed the order and filed a motion for stay. On August 1, the court of appeals granted a temporary stay to allow relators to go on a previously planned vacation during the time of the ordered genetic testing, but ordered relators to “cooperate expeditiously with [281]*281counsel for [the department] to arrive at an appropriate date for re-scheduling genetic testing of the minor child.”

Expedited Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights Case under S.Ct.Prac.R. X(10)

{¶ 8} On August 13, 2008, relators filed this action for a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Monnin from proceeding with the juvenile court case and to direct him to dismiss the case and to vacate all orders entered in the case. After Judge Monnin filed an answer and motion for judgment on the pleadings and relators filed a memorandum in opposition, we granted an alternative writ. 119 Ohio St.3d 1435, 2008-Ohio-4490, 893 N.E.2d 508. The parties have submitted evidence and briefs, and the cause is now before us for our consideration of the merits.

Prohibition

{¶ 9} Relators claim entitlement to a writ of prohibition to prevent Judge Monnin from proceeding in the parentage action and to order him to dismiss the case and to vacate all orders entered in the case.

{¶ 10} To be entitled to the requested writ of prohibition, relators have to establish that (1) Judge Monnin is about to exercise judicial or quasi-judicial power, (2) the exercise of that power is unauthorized by law, and (3) denying the writ will result in injury for which no other adequate remedy exists in the ordinary course of law. State ex rel. Sliwinski v. Burnham Unruh, 118 Ohio St.3d 76, 2008-Ohio-1734, 886 N.E.2d 201, ¶ 7. Judge Monnin has exercised judicial authority in the parentage case.

{¶ 11} For the remaining requirements, “[i]f a lower court patently and unambiguously lacks jurisdiction to proceed in a cause, prohibition * * * will issue to prevent any future unauthorized exercise of jurisdiction and to correct the results of prior jurisdictionally unauthorized actions.” State ex rel. Mayer v. Henson, 97 Ohio St.3d 276, 2002-Ohio-6323, 779 N.E.2d 223, ¶ 12; Rosen v. Celebrezze, 117 Ohio St.3d 241, 2008-Ohio-853, 883 N.E.2d 420, ¶ 18. “Where jurisdiction is patently and unambiguously lacking, relators need not establish the lack of an adequate remedy at law because the availability of alternate remedies like appeal would be immaterial.” State ex rel. Sapp v. Franklin Cty. Court of Appeals, 118 Ohio St.3d 368, 2008-Ohio-2637, 889 N.E.2d 500, ¶ 15.

{¶ 12} Conversely, “[i]n the absence of a patent and unambiguous lack of jurisdiction, a court having general subject-matter jurisdiction can determine its own jurisdiction, and a party contesting that jurisdiction has an adequate remedy by appeal.” State ex rel. Plant v. Cosgrove, 119 Ohio St.3d 264, 2008-Ohio-3838, 893 N.E.2d 485, ¶ 5.

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State ex rel. Furnas v. Monnin, 898 N.E.2d 573, 120 Ohio St. 3d 279 (Ohio 2008).

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