State Ex Rel. Sm

992 So. 2d 1085, 2008 WL 2747507
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 9, 2008
Docket2008 CJ 0362
StatusPublished

This text of 992 So. 2d 1085 (State Ex Rel. Sm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Ex Rel. Sm, 992 So. 2d 1085, 2008 WL 2747507 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

992 So.2d 1085 (2008)

STATE of Louisiana in the Interest of S.M. and J.M.[1]

No. 2008 CJ 0362.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

July 9, 2008.

*1086 Sherry Watters, Theresa A. Beckler, Harahan, Louisiana, for Appellee, State of Louisiana, Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services.

Russell Clayton Monroe, Greensburg, Louisiana, for Appellant, B.G.

Before PARRO, KUHN and DOWNING, JJ.

KUHN, J.

Appellant, B.G., the biological father of the minor child, S.M., appeals the denial of his motion for new trial and the juvenile court's decree terminating his parental rights to S.M. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In August 2005, S.M., who was born on March 10, 2003, was declared a child in need of care based on a determination that his mother, R.M., had an addiction to illegal substances, which prevented her from providing adequate care and supervision to the child. Based on R.M.'s representations of paternity, the State of Louisiana, Department of Social Services, Office of Community Services (OCS), initiated DNA testing of B.G. On July 12, 2005, paternity test results established that B.G. was S.M.'s father. B.G., who was incarcerated at Washington Correctional Facility in Angie, Louisiana, and his attorney were present in court on August 15, 2005, when the court continued S.M.'s care in the custody of OCS.

On January 12, 2006, R.M. executed a voluntary act of surrender by an unmarried mother.[2] A motion to file the act of surrender and a notice of the filing of the act of surrender were filed into the record on April 10, 2006, and on April 15, 2006, the juvenile court signed the order registering and accepting R.M.'s voluntary surrender of her parental rights of S.M. The clerk of court subsequently sent the notice to B.G., by certified mail, at the Washington Correctional Facility address.

Case review hearings were held in February, March, and July 2006. The official court minutes indicate that counsel for B.G. was present at each hearing, and B.G. was present for those in March and July.[3] At these hearings, B.G. was notified that R.M. had voluntarily surrendered her parental rights and that the case plan for S.M. had changed from reunification to adoption.

On September 29, 2006, OCS filed a motion to declare R.M.'s parental rights of *1087 S.M. surrendered. The juvenile court signed a judgment on October 5, 2006, approving the surrender of S.M. by his mother, permanently terminating and dissolving all her parental rights, decreeing that more than fifteen days had elapsed and no written objection to the child's adoption had been filed by any possible alleged father or B.G., and that since all of S.M.'s parents' rights had been terminated, the child was free and eligible for adoption.[4]

On March 5, 2007, B.G. filed an opposition to the termination of parental rights and the declaration of eligibility for adoption. He subsequently filed a motion for new trial and a written opposition to the termination of his parental rights and the eligibility for adoption of S.M., asserting that he had not received service of the notice of the filing of act of surrender. The juvenile court signed a judgment on November 13, 2007, denying the motion for new trial from the judgment that decreed S.M. free and eligible for adoption and rendered judgment in favor of OCS and against B.G., terminating all parental rights to S.M.[5] This suspensive appeal by B.G. follows.[6]

On appeal, B.G. urges the juvenile court erred in concluding that he had properly been served with the notice of R.M.'s surrender of her parental rights. He also complains that the motion to declare the parental rights of S.M. terminated failed to include an attached copy of the child's birth certificate.[7]

DISCUSSION

La. Ch.C. art. 1132 provides in pertinent part:

*1088 A. If a mother of a child born outside of marriage has executed a surrender and identifies the child's alleged or adjudicated father, the agency or individual to whom the child was surrendered shall exercise due diligence in attempting to locate him and to offer pre-surrender counseling in accordance with Article 1120.
B. Upon approval of the mother's surrender by the court, notice of the filing of the mother's surrender shall be served upon the alleged or adjudicated father unless any of the following apply:
(1) His potential parental rights have been terminated by a judgment in accordance with Title X of this Code.
(2) He has executed a surrender in accordance with this Title.
(3) He has given his consent in open court in accordance with Article 1195.
(4) He has executed a release of claims in accordance with Article 1196. (Emphasis added.)

La. Ch.C. art. 1133 elaborates further on the requisite service stating,

Notice of the filing of a mother's surrender shall be promptly served upon the alleged or adjudicated father.... If he resides within this state, service shall be made by either registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid and properly addressed to his last known address.

An alleged or adjudicated father may oppose the adoption by filing a clear and written declaration of intention to oppose the adoption. The notice of opposition shall be filed with the court indicated in the notice of filing of the surrender within fifteen days after the time he was served with the notice of surrender, see La. Ch.C. art. 1137, in which case he is entitled to a hearing under La. Ch.C. art. 1138, at which he must establish his parental rights by acknowledging that he is the father of the child and by proving that he has manifested a substantial commitment to his parental responsibilities and that he is a fit parent of his child.[8] If no opposition is timely received by the court, the court shall, upon motion, render an order declaring the rights of the parents terminated. La. Ch.C. art. 1142 A.

Because more than fifteen days had elapsed with no opposition having been filed by B.G., the juvenile court signed a judgment that terminated B.G.'s parental rights to S.M. On appeal, B.G. asserts that he is entitled to a hearing under La. Ch.C. art. 1138 because none of the exceptions to service set forth in La. Ch.C. art. 1132 are applicable to him, and he has not been served with the notice of surrender as required under La. Ch.C. art. 1132.

At the hearing on B.G.'s motion for new trial, the testimony established that on April 17, 2006, the deputy clerk of court sent out by registered mail the motion and order to file the surrender and the notice of surrender to B.G.'s address at *1089 Washington Correctional Institute in Angie, Louisiana.[9] The return receipt, which was introduced into evidence, showed that the certified mail was signed for on behalf of B.G. on May 5, 2006, by Charles Touchtone, a representative for B.G. A certified copy of the Washington Correctional Institute legal mail receipt log dated May 5, 2006, was introduced into evidence. The parties stipulated that if the deputy representative from the penal facility had been called as a witness, he would have identified the log as a document maintained in the normal course of business at the Washington Correctional Institute, and that the mail was delivered to B.G. from the clerk of court.

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State ex rel. S.M.
992 So. 2d 1085 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
992 So. 2d 1085, 2008 WL 2747507, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-sm-lactapp-2008.