Thompson v. Valentine

939 N.E.2d 1289, 189 Ohio App. 3d 661
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 30, 2010
DocketNo. CA2009-09-231
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 939 N.E.2d 1289 (Thompson v. Valentine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thompson v. Valentine, 939 N.E.2d 1289, 189 Ohio App. 3d 661 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Hendrickson, Judge.

{¶ 1} This amended opinion clarifies and supersedes this court’s previous opinion in Thompson v. Valentine, Butler App. No. CA2009-09-231, 2010-Ohio-3689, 2010 WL 3101415, released on August 9, 2010.

{¶ 2} Defendant-appellant, Charles E. Valentine, appeals from an order of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division, certifying to the common pleas court’s juvenile division all matters concerning the care and custody of the two minor children of appellant and his former wife plaintiffappellee, Ann Valentine, n.k.a. Ann Thompson.

{¶ 3} The parties were divorced in 2003, and appellant was subsequently named the residential parent of the parties’ minor children. In 2008, appellant, acting pro se, moved to modify the parties’ parenting time and filed a notice of his intent to relocate to Wisconsin and to take the children with him. Appellee responded with several motions of her own, including one to modify the children’s designated custodian.

{¶ 4} In 2009, the domestic-relations court certified the case, including all of the parties’ pending motions, to the Butler County Juvenile Court on the ground that evidence had been presented to it to support allegations that one of the parties’ children may have been subjected to sexual abuse, though it was.not known by whom or when the abuse occurred, and the juvenile court has exclusive [663]*663and original jurisdiction concerning any child alleged to be abused under R.C. 2151.23(A)(1).

{¶ 5} Appellant now appeals from the domestic-relation court’s decision, assigning the following as error:

{¶ 6} Assignment of error No. 1:

{¶ 7} “Trial court erred by not determining that a change of circumstances had taken place prior to hearing the motion of modifying custody.”

{¶ 8} Assignment of error No. 2:

{¶ 9} “The trial court erred by not surrendering jurisdiction of the case to division of juvenile court before hearing it.”

{¶ 10} Assignment of error No. 3:

{¶ 11} “The trial court erred by denying defendant’s motion of intent to relocate out of state based on evidence, obtained inappropriately, and the failure of the trial court to specify the factual evidence that claimed to have outweighed the advantages of the move.”

{¶ 12} Assignment of error No. 4:

{¶ 13} “The trier of the objection [sic] of the magistrate’s decision erred by ignoring the issues of the 3rd error of the trial court.”

{¶ 14} We are precluded from reviewing the issues raised in appellant’s assignments of error. Appellant had a duty to file a transcript of the proceedings or such parts of it as were necessary to enable this court to review the domestic-relations court’s decision. See Spicer v. Spicer, Butler App. No. CA2005-10-443, 2006-Ohio-2402, 2006 WL 1312521, ¶ 4. While appellant provided this court with an audio recording of the proceedings, he failed to provide a written transcript of the proceedings as required by App.R. 9(A), which provides:

{¶ 15} “Proceedings recorded by means other than videotape must be transcribed into written form. When the written form is certified by the reporter in accordance with App. R. 9(B), such written form shall then constitute the transcript of proceedings.”

{¶ 16} In this case, appellant failed to provide this court with a transcript of the proceedings or an acceptable alternative, as required by App.R. 9, and therefore this court must presume the regularity of the proceedings in the domestic-relations court. Id. at ¶ 5. Nevertheless, our analysis of the record in this case has led us to conclude that the domestic-relations court failed to properly certify this case to the juvenile court, and therefore, jurisdiction over this case never vested in the juvenile court.

[664]*664{¶ 17} There are a number of means by which a juvenile court may acquire jurisdiction over custody matters. Some require the juvenile court to consent to the transfer. Others do not require consent, but mandate that the transferring court make certain statutory findings in order for the transfer to be proper. Relevant to the case at bar are the jurisdictional mechanisms set forth in R.C. 2151.23(A)(1), 3109.04(D)(2), and 3109.06.

{¶ 18} R.C. 2151.23 provides that the juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over the various types of cases enumerated in the statute. Relevant to the case at bar, subsection (A)(1) confers jurisdiction upon the juvenile court in cases “[cjoncerning any child who on or about the date specified in the complaint, indictment, or information is alleged * * * to be a[n] * * * abused, neglected, or dependent child.”

{¶ 19} When a domestic-relations court relies upon R.C. 2151.23(A)(1) to certify a case to juvenile court, the court must be mindful of an additional requirement. That is, R.C. 2151.23(F) obligates a juvenile court to exercise its jurisdiction in child-custody matters in accordance with, among other provisions, R.C. 3109.04.

{¶ 20} R.C. 3109.04, in turn, prescribes certain parameters for allocating and modifying parental rights and responsibilities. Subsection (D)(2) authorizes a domestic-relations court to certify a case to the juvenile court upon finding “that it is in the best interest of the child for neither parent to be designated the residential parent and legal custodian of the child.” Thus, when a domestic-relations court seeks to transfer a case to juvenile court under R.C. 2151.23(A)(1), the domestic-relations court must also make this best-interest finding under R.C. 3109.04(D)(2) in order for jurisdiction to vest in the juvenile court.

{¶ 21} A juvenile court may also attain jurisdiction over a domestic-relations ease by certification under R.C. 3109.06. Relevant to the present matter, there are two distinct methods for certification under this statute. In accordance with the first paragraph of R.C. 3109.06:

{¶ 22} “Any court, other than a juvenile court, that has jurisdiction in any case respecting the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities for the care of a child under eighteen years of age and the designation of the child’s place of residence and legal custodian or in any case respecting the support of a child under eighteen years of age, may, on its own motion or on motion of any interested party, with the consent of the juvenile court, certify the record in the case or so much of the record and such further information, in narrative form or otherwise, as the court deems necessary or the juvenile court requests, to the [665]*665juvenile court for further proceedings; upon the certification, the juvenile court shall have exclusive jurisdiction.”1

{¶ 23} Under the plain terms of the statute, the juvenile court’s express consent is required before a domestic-relations court may transfer a case pursuant to the first paragraph of R.C. 3109.06.

{¶ 24} The second paragraph of R.C. 3109.06 provides yet another manner for certifying a case to juvenile court:

{¶ 25} “In eases in which the court of common pleas finds the parents unsuitable to have the parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the child or children and unsuitable to provide the place of residence and to be the legal custodian of the child or children, consent of the juvenile court shall not be required to such certification.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
939 N.E.2d 1289, 189 Ohio App. 3d 661, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-valentine-ohioctapp-2010.