City and County of Denver v. Juvenile Court In and For City and County of Denver in Second Judicial Dist., 25763
| Decision Date | 02 July 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 25763,25763 |
| Citation | 182 Colo. 157,511 P.2d 898 |
| Parties | The CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER, Colorado, a municipal corporation, and the Department of Welfare of the City and County of Denver, Petitioners, v. The JUVENILE COURT IN AND FOR the CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER IN the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT, and the Honorable John Robert Evans, the Presiding Judge thereof, Respondents. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Max P. Zall, City Atty., Frank A. Elzi, Robert A. Powell, Asst. City Attys., City and County of Denver, for petitioners.
Rollie R. Rogers, State Public Defender, J. D. MacFarlane, Chief Deputy State Public Defender, Gary B. Blum, Asst. State Public Defender, Denver, for respondents.
Lynne M. Hufnagel, Denver, amicus curiae for Juvenile Advocacy Div., Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver.
This matter is here on a 'Petition for a Writ in the Nature of Prohibition' filed by the City and County of Denver and the Department of Welfare of the City and County of Denver, pursuant to the provisions of article VI, section 3, Constitution of Colorado, and C.A.R. 21.
Petitioners seek an order from this court directing the Juvenile Court in and for the City and County of Denver, and the Honorable John Robert Evans, the presiding judge thereof (since deceased), to vacate a certain order entered in a pending action before the court wherein R.J.G. was adjudicated a child in need of supervision (CHINS). The order in issue requires the petitioners herein to place the child, at petitioners' expense, at Brockhurst Boys' Ranch, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
We issued a rule to show cause why the relief prayed for should not be granted. In addition to the briefs filed in behalf of the parties, an amicus curiae brief has been filed by the Juvenile Advocacy Division of the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Denver. We conclude that the court had jurisdiction and that the rule to show cause should be discharged.
The basic issue is whether the juvenile court exceeded its jurisdiction, or lacked jurisdiction, to order the Denver Department of Welfare to return the child to a group care facility, specifically Brockhurst Boys' Ranch. The petitioners, who were before the court at the time of the original placement of the child at Brockhurst, concurred in recommending that placement.
The issues before us arose in this factual setting. R.J.G. first came to the attention of the Juvenile Court in January 1969. He was found wandering the streets of Denver and told the police that he had run away from home because of beatings by his mother. A dependency and neglect petition was filed against Mrs. G. which resulted in R.J.G.'s removal from his mother's home and placement at Frontier Boys Ranch. In August 1970 he was returned to his mother's custody.
R.J.G. reappeared in the Juvenile Court in January 1971, following the filing of a petition in delinquency, C--42633. On April 28, 1971, the petition was amended to a Child in Need of Supervision by the referee. On April 29, 1971, R.J.G. was returned to the temporary custody of the Denver Department of Welfare and was placed in the Galloway Receiving Home. Although the child on occasion was returned to the home of his mother, the result was not satisfactory and he was eventually placed at Savio House for boys on May 13, 1971.
Due to various factors, the placement at Savio House failed to accomplish its purpose and a second dispositional hearing was held on June 28, 1972, to review the minor's situation. On that date, with the approval of all persons and agencies involved, including the Denver Department of Welfare, R.J.G. was ordered placed at Brockhurst Boys' Ranch, with the Denver Department of Welfare responsible for the financial obligation arising therefrom. The City raised no objections to any of the court's orders up to this point.
On August 5, 1972, R.J.G. ran away from Brockhurst Boys' Ranch following an incident in which, while wearing only a pair of pants he was held against an ant hill by some of the other boys at the ranch. R.J.G. was eventually returned to Denver Juvenile Hall. A detention hearing was held on September 14, 1972, at which the court ordered the Denver Department of Welfare either to arrange for the return of R.J.G. to Brockhurst Boys' Ranch or suggest an appropriate alternative.
The Denver Department of Welfare not having returned R.J.G. to Brockhurst Boys' Ranch nor having suggested any appropriate alternative placement by October 17, 1972, the juvenile court, at the request of counsel for the child, held a hearing to review the placement situation.
Present at this hearing were the minor child, represented by a deputy state public defender; the People, represented by an assistant district attorney; the Denver Welfare Department, represented by an assistant city attorney and a representative of the division of child services; and Mrs. Lopez, a probation counselor of the juvenile court.
Counsel for the minor moved that the court order R.J.G.'s return to Brockhurst Boys' Ranch; he advised the court that the minor desired to return there, and that the authorities at the ranch were willing to accept him.
The city attorney moved to strike the minor's motion on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction over the person of the Welfare Department 'to the extent that it can order us to place a child in a particular place.' Also, at this point the city attorney stated that 'We do not agree this is a proper placement.' His third reason for the motion was that the City had no money allocated for this particular placement.
In its petition in this court the City has raised important questions regarding the scope of the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. The City also seeks clarification of the relationship between the Children's Code (C.R.S. 1963, Chapter 22) and the Child Welfare Services provision of 1969 Perm.Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 119--13 (Relief and Public Welfare), as they bear upon the jurisdictional issue.
Colorado was one of the first states to adopt legislation protecting children and establishing the juvenile court as the better way to handle children in trouble. From the outset, dispositional determination was a matter left to the discretion of the court. Laws of 1881, p. 135, sec. 14; Laws of 1903, Ch. 85, p. 184, sec. 9; C.R.S. 1963, 22--8--11 and 105--1--7.
The policy governing dispositional determination is well stated in People v. Bolton, 27 Colo.App. 39, 146 P. 489 (1915), wherein the court said:
'In this jurisdiction it has long been held that every child is under the control of the state, and even the paternal right to its custody and control must yield to the interest and welfare of the child, and that the paramount and controlling question by which courts must be guided in proceedings affecting the custody of the infant is the interest and welfare of the child.'
In 1967 the general assembly, following an interim study by the Children's Law Committee of the Legislative Council, revised, amended and codified the laws of Colorado relating to children who are dependent, neglected, delinquent, or otherwise in need of special care, into what is known as the Colorado Children's Code. 1967 Perm.Supp., C.R.S. 1963, Chapter 22. 1
The section of the Children's Code relating to its purposes reads:
'(b) To secure for each child, subject to these provisions, such care and guidance, preferably in his own home, as will best serve his welfare and the interests of society;
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'(e) To secure for any child removed from the custody of his parents the necessary care, guidance, and discipline to assist him in becoming a responsible and productive member of society.
'(2) To carry out these purposes, the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed.' 1967 Perm.Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 22--1--2(1), (b), (e), and (2).
The Children's Code leaves no room for doubt as to the general assembly's intention regarding the scope of the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. 1967 Perm.Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 22--1--4 provides:
'(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, the juvenile court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in proceedings:
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'(c) Concerning any child in need of supervision, as defined in section 22--1--3(18);
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* * * '(e) To determine the legal custody of any child or appoint a guardian of the person or gegal custodian of any child who comes within the juvenile court's jurisdiction under provisions of this section;'
The petitioners have pointed out no exception to the juvenile court's exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter of this controversy.
The Children's Code also contains these significant provisions which relate directly to the scope of the juvenile court's jurisdiction:
1967...
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