235 S.E.2d 602 (Ga.App. 1977), 53666, In Interest of K. C. O.

• Docket Nº: 53666.
• Citation: 235 S.E.2d 602, 142 Ga.App. 216
• Party Name: In the Interest of K. C. O.
• Case Date: April 19, 1977
• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia

Page 602

235 S.E.2d 602 (Ga.App. 1977)

142 Ga.App. 216

In the Interest of K. C. O.

No. 53666.

Court of Appeals of Georgia, Division No. 3.

April 19, 1977

Rehearing Denied May 6, 1977.

Page 603

On October 25, 1976, Dougherty County Department of Family and Children Services petitioned to terminate the parental right of K. C. O.'s mother, alleging that the child was "deprived." After hearing evidence the juvenile court judge terminated the parental rights, concluding, "the child has never and likely would never receive proper parental care or control or other care or control necessary [142 Ga.App. 217] for her mental or emotional health or morals."

John R. Ulmer, Albany, for appellant.

Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Walter M. Deriso, Deputy Asst. Atty. Gen., Carol Atha Cosgrove, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellee.

DEEN, Presiding Judge.

1. The mother urges that the motion to dismiss the petition for failure to state a claim should have been granted. This is based upon the fact that she did not have legal custody of the child and that if the child were " deprived" it was not at her hands. Of course, the reason why she did not have custody at the time of the hearing on termination of her parental rights is that the juvenile court had made a prior (and apparently uncontested) finding that K. C. O. was a "deprived child" and granted temporary custody to the Department of Family and Children Services. That a "deprived child" may be in agency custody at the time of the hearing on termination of parental rights does not oust the juvenile court from jurisdiction to determine the ultimate issue under Code Ann. § 24A-3201(a)(2). Code Ann. § 24A-301(a)(1)(C). A petition to terminate the parental rights to a child previously adjudicated " deprived" and in agency custody is cognizable in the juvenile court. See In re Levi, 131 Ga.App. 348, 206 S.E.2d 82. The appellant's specific argument has been previously rejected by this court. Roberts v. State of Ga., 141 Ga.App. 268, 233 S.E.2d 224.

2. "The court by order may terminate the parental rights of a parent with respect to his child if the child is a deprived child and the court finds that the conditions and causes of the deprivation are likely to continue or will not be remedied and that by reason thereof the child is suffering or will probably suffer serious physical, mental, moral or emotional harm . . . ." Code Ann. §...