Ex parte Department of Mental Health

• Decision Date: 15 May 1987
• Citation: 511 So.2d 181
• Parties: Ex parte DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH, State of Alabama (Re Ex parte Dept. of Mental Health). (In the matter of ANONYMOUS). 85-951.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 181

511 So.2d 181

Ex parte DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH, State of Alabama (Re Ex parte Dept. of Mental Health) (In the matter of ANONYMOUS).

85-951.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

May 15, 1987.

G.R. Trawick and Patricia Shaner, Montgomery, for petitioner.

James Ward, Joel M. Nomberg, and Kathleen Nemish, Dothan, for respondent.

ADAMS, Justice.

We granted certiorari in this case to answer the following questions:

1. Does a juvenile court have the authority to commit a child to the custody of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and thereafter to place the child in a private psychiatric facility and order that all costs for care and treatment be paid from State funds appropriated to the Department?

2. Did the fact that the child was in the custody of the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation by an order of the Juvenile Court of Houston County prohibit the Juvenile Court of Barbour County from making an adjudication regarding the child and committing the child to the Department of Youth Services?

The facts of this case are as follows:

On November 9, 1983, the Juvenile Court of Houston County adjudicated the minor anonymous, to be mentally ill, and a danger to himself and others, and committed him to the custody of the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation ("Mental Health"). The child was placed at Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. After treatment at Bryce, the child was placed by Mental Health into the Eufaula Adolescent Center in Barbour County, Alabama. During the time the child resided at Eufaula Adolescent Center, he escaped and allegedly committed numerous delinquent acts in Barbour County, Alabama.

On October 7, 1985, numerous petitions were filed in the Juvenile Court of Barbour County, alleging that anonymous was a delinquent child. The Juvenile Court of Barbour County adjudicated the child to be delinquent and committed him to the custody of the Alabama Department of Youth Services. He was then placed by the Juvenile Court of Barbour County in the southeast Alabama Diversion Center in Houston County, pending transfer to the Department of Youth Services.

On October 11, 1985, James A. Ward, the child's guardian ad litem, filed a motion in the Juvenile Court of Houston County, requesting an immediate hearing, alleging that the Juvenile Court of Barbour County modified the order of the Juvenile Court of Houston County, which committed the child to the custody of the Department of Mental Health. On October 18, 1985, the Juvenile Court of Houston County ordered the Department of Pensions and Security to take the child into protective custody and place him at Charter Woods Hospital, a private psychiatric facility, for an evaluation. This order followed a hearing in which the juvenile referee in Houston County determined that the order of the Juvenile Court of Barbour County was invalid on its face. The child's guardian ad litem then made a motion in the Juvenile Court of Houston County, alleging that the custody of the child was in controversy and that the Department of Mental Health was unwilling to take custody of him. Because the parties could not agree on where the child would be evaluated, and at whose expense, the Juvenile Court of Houston County ruled that the child was in the custody of the Department of Mental Health and that the Department of Mental Health was to pay any expenses incurred by him while he was in Charter Woods Hospital. Further, the court ordered the Department of Pensions and Security to exercise protective custody while the child was in Houston County, with legal custody remaining with the Department of Mental Health. Also, Charter Woods Hospital was to perform a complete evaluation of the child.

Subsequently, the Juvenile Court of Barbour County allowed the child to withdraw his earlier entered plea of guilty and change it to a plea of not guilty, and not guilty by reason of insanity to the alleged delinquent acts. By order of the Juvenile Court of Barbour County, dated November 26, 1985, the child was adjudicated a delinquent child and committed to the custody of the Alabama Department of Youth Services. By order dated December 3, 1985, the Juvenile Court of Houston County ordered that the child remain at his placement in Charter Woods Hospital pending further orders of the court.

Faced with conflicting orders, the Department of Mental Health filed a petition for a writ of prohibition with the Court of Civil Appeals, asking that the Houston County Juvenile Court be prohibited from exercising jurisdiction over the child because the Barbour County Juvenile Court had assumed jurisdiction over him. The Court of Civil Appeals denied the writ, holding that the Department of Mental Health was responsible for the costs of keeping the child at Charter Woods Hospital because there were matters pending before the Houston County Juvenile Court. The Department of Mental Health then filed the instant petition for a writ of certiorari, which we granted.

We agree with petitioner's contention that the Court of Civil Appeals erred when it said that the costs of maintaining and treating the child in a private facility could be assessed against the Department of Mental Health pursuant to Code of Alabama 1975, § 12-15-9. Section 12-15-9, including its title, is printed below:

§ 12-15-9. Issuance of order to parents, etc., for payment for support, treatment, etc., of children in custody of persons other than parents generally; proceedings upon failure of parents, etc., to pay amounts directed.

Whenever legal custody of a child is vested in someone other than his parents, after due notice to the parents or other persons legally obligated to care for and support the child and after a hearing, the court may order that the parent or other legally obligated person shall pay in such manner as the court may direct a reasonable sum that will cover in whole or in part the support and treatment of the child after the order is entered and including support, treatment, costs and legal fees from the commencement of the proceeding.

If the parent or other legally obligated person willfully fails or refuses to pay such sum, the court may proceed against him for contempt or the order may be filed and shall constitute a civil judgment. (Acts 1975, No. 1205, § 5-140.)

We are of the opinion that, when the Legislature refers to "persons" in this statute it is referring to "real" persons--people--and not hospitals or institutions. Indeed, in the very next section the legislature specifically provides for maintenance and care of children generally. Section 12-15-10 reads:

§ 12-15-10. Liability of counties for court costs, attorney's fees and expenses for maintenance and care of children generally; manner of payment.

All expenses necessary or appropriate to the carrying out of the purposes and intent of this chapter and all expenses of maintenance and care of children that may be incurred by order of the court in carrying out the provisions and intent of this chapter, except costs paid by parents, guardians or trustees, court costs as provided by law and attorney fees shall be valid charges and preferred claims against the county and shall be paid by the county treasurer when itemized and sworn to by the creditor or other persons knowing the facts in the case and approved by the court. (Acts 1975, No. 1205, § 5-139.)

Here, the Legislature expressly designates the county as the entity responsible for maintenance and care. Therefore, according to our statutory scheme, the county, not the State or a department thereof, is responsible for any monies due Charter Woods Hospital.

The Court of Civil Appeals's judgment ordering the Department of Mental Health to pay for the child's care and treatment not only runs afoul of § 12-15-10, but also violates §§ 42 and 43 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, which sections deal with the doctrine of separation of powers.

Although the Legislature granted authority to the juvenile courts to commit children to the custody of the Department of Mental Health and authority to avail themselves of the facilities and personnel of Mental Health, the Legislature did not confer upon the juvenile courts the authority to commit a child to the custody of Mental Health and then order that the child be placed in a private psychiatric facility. See Code of Alabama 1975, § 12-15-90. Had the Legislature intended to grant authority to juvenile courts to commit a child to the custody of the Department of Mental Health and then order that the child be placed in a private psychiatric facility at the expense of Mental Health, it would have been a simple matter for the Legislature to so provide. The Legislature's power to determine the appropriations for each state agency cannot be usurped by either of the other branches of government. The Department of Mental Health is mandated by the Legislature to act, through its commissioner, "in any prudent way to provide mental health services ... for the people of Alabama." Code of Alabama 1975, § 22-50-1, et seq. The Department of Mental Health is therefore charged by the Legislature to accept minors alleged to be mentally ill and treat them by means of its various programs and facilities. Nowhere in any of these statutes does the Legislature state that...