In re Ruben D.

• Citation: 130 N.M. 110,2001 NMCA 6,18 P.3d 1063
• Decision Date: 18 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. 20,209.,20,209.
• Parties: In the Matter of Ruben D., A Child. Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

18 P.3d 1063

130 N.M. 110

2001 NMCA 6

In the Matter of Ruben D., A Child. Respondent-Appellant.

No. 20,209.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

December 18, 2000.

Certiorari Denied February 5, 2001.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Arthur W. Pepin, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for Appellee.

Phyllis H. Subin, Chief Public Defender, Jennifer R. Albright, Assistant Appellate Defender, Santa Fe, for Appellant.

Certiorari Denied No. 26,752, February 5, 2001.

OPINION

BOSSON, Judge.

{1} Ruben D., a juvenile, appeals an order of the children's court extending legal custody of the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) over him for a year past his initial two-year commitment. See NMSA 1978, § 32A-2-23(D) (1995). Ruben argues that the order was improper because (1) the court was without authority to commence proceedings sua sponte to extend his commitment, (2) the court lacked jurisdiction to extend his custody with CYFD after the Juvenile Parole Board (JPB) had issued a certificate of discharge, (3) the applicable time limits for such a hearing did not allow an order extending his commitment to be entered after the first order had expired, and (4) the evidence failed to justify extending his commitment. Not persuaded by Ruben's arguments, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

{2} Ruben is a delinquent child. His delinquency adjudication followed a series of referrals to CYFD, which included substance abuse and a physical altercation with his mother. These referrals culminated in CYFD petitioning the court to adjudicate Ruben a delinquent child for having committed a burglary, and the court did so on January 28, 1997. The court's disposition transferred legal custody of Ruben to CYFD for long-term commitment, measured by statute as an indeterminate period not to exceed two years. See NMSA 1978, § 32A-2-19(B)(2)(b) (1996). In its disposition, the court expressly reserved jurisdiction to extend Ruben's commitment. According to the original disposition, CYFD's custody was to expire on January 28, 1999. The validity of the original two-year commitment is not at issue in this appeal.

{3} In September 1998, CYFD decided not to request an extension of Ruben's commitment. In preparation for terminating Ruben's commitment, CYFD forwarded a letter to the JPB outlining its decision to allow its custody to expire. After CYFD sent the letter, Ruben escaped from the Boy's School for a period of two days. At that time, Ruben's escape did not alter CYFD's recommendation to allow his commitment to expire. Although aware of the escape, the JPB issued a certificate of discharge on January 11, 1999, effective January 30, 1999, a date that reflects an extension of two days of commitment to make up for Ruben's escape.

{4} Meanwhile, the children's court scheduled a hearing to consider extending Ruben's commitment. Apparently unaware that the JPB was going to issue a certificate of discharge, the court issued notice to all concerned parties, drafted on January 7, 1999, that a re-commitment hearing would be held on January 20, 1999. At that hearing, Ruben's counsel argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to proceed in light of the certificate of discharge that the JPB had issued nine days earlier. The court denied Ruben's motion in light of the express reservation of jurisdiction in its original commitment order.

{5} Ruben's counsel also informed the court that he was unprepared to present a defense on that date because he had received notice of the hearing just the day before. The court began the hearing, but granted Ruben a continuance to call witnesses and offer testimony as soon as possible. {6} At the end of the January 20 hearing, the court found that Ruben was not fit to be released and that CYFD had not arranged for a suitable place for Ruben to live if he were released. At that time Ruben was seventeen and his parent's whereabouts were unknown. The court entered an interim order on January 25 committing Ruben to CYFD's custody until Ruben could present his case. The second and final portion of the hearing was convened on February 23, 1999. Ruben renewed his motion that the court lacked jurisdiction to proceed, which was again denied. Ruben then presented his case, only to discover that CYFD had reversed its position. At the second hearing, CYFD requested an extension of Ruben's commitment so that he could be placed in a transitional living home; a home that would allow Ruben to develop the skills necessary to participate productively in society. When the hearing adjourned, the court found that it was in the best interests of both Ruben and the community to extend his commitment to CYFD for another year. An order to that effect was entered on March 4, 1999.

DISCUSSION

{7} Ruben raises issues that involve questions of statutory interpretation. We review such questions de novo. See In re Zac McV., 1998-NMCA-114, ¶ 5, 125 N.M. 583, 964 P.2d 144. When construing statutes that have unambiguous statutory language, "we must give effect to that language and refrain from further statutory interpretation." State v. Jonathan M., 109 N.M. 789, 790, 791 P.2d 64, 65 (1990). If statutory language is ambiguous, however, we consider the legislative purpose behind the statute in conjunction with all the provisions of the children's code to resolve its meaning. See In re Zac McV., 1998-NMCA-114, ¶ 10, 125 N.M. 583, 964 P.2d 144.

Whether the Children's Court May Convene a Hearing to Extend Commitment Without a Motion From Either CYFD or the Child

{8} Ruben's initial argument is that the court lacked jurisdiction to convene a hearing sua sponte to consider extending his commitment. Ruben contends that statutory law divested the court of jurisdiction once Ruben was transferred to CYFD's custody. His argument is based on Section 32A-2-23(A), which states that a "judgment transferring legal custody of an adjudicated delinquent child to an agency responsible for the care and rehabilitation of delinquent children divests the court of jurisdiction at the time of transfer of custody." Ruben acknowledges that despite the divestiture of jurisdiction in subsection (A), the court retains jurisdiction under subsections (D), (E), (F), and (G) of Section 32A-2-23 to hold hearings to extend or terminate a child's commitment. He argues that those subsections, and more importantly the court's jurisdiction thereunder, can be invoked only when the child, or an executive-branch actor such as the children's court attorney or CYFD, files a written motion with the court. Under Ruben's interpretation of Section 32A-2-23, the court must defer to the judgment of executive actors to decide whether an extended commitment "is necessary to safeguard the welfare of the child or the public interest." Section 32A-2-23(D).

{9} Ruben's view of the court's jurisdiction is overly restrictive. In In re Zac McV., 1998-NMCA-114, ¶ 14, 125 N.M. 583, 964 P.2d 144, we interpreted subsection (F) of Section 32A-2-23, which allows the court to terminate or extend a child's commitment, to include either motions for modification filed by CYFD or similar action taken sua sponte by the court. Under In re Zac McV., the court need not wait for a party to file a motion for the court to extend a commitment under subsection (F). See id. ¶ 14. We believe the legislature intended the same for subsection (D), which grants the court similar authority to modify a prior commitment order.

{10} We recently outlined the role of the children's court in handling dispositions of delinquent children. See State v. Adam M., 2000-NMCA-049, 129 N.M. 146, 2 P.3d 883

. In Adam M., we held that the children's court lacked statutory authority to order consecutive commitments in a single disposition. See id. ¶ 10. In so deciding, we recognized that the children's code envisioned a flexible, indeterminate commitment process; one that allows the court to "address[] the rehabilitative purpose of a long-term commitment by permitting the children's court to extend its judgment of commitment for additional periods of one year each until the child reaches the age of twenty-one." Id. We decided that consecutive commitments were impermissible because the children's code gave the court discretionary authority to lengthen a commitment only at the end of a long-term disposition. According to our interpretation of the children's code, "the children's court must exercise its discretion over a long-term commitment at the end of the commitment, after reviewing a record of the child's performance while committed, instead of at the beginning when the court has less information before it. The legislature has made this choice." Id.

{11} We remain steadfast in this interpretation of the code. The code intended the court to tailor a disposition to the specific needs of a child, and the legislature implemented its intent by granting the court power to review a child's progress in the custody of CYFD at the end of a commitment period. See id. Periodic review by the court provides a check on a child's improvement, and allows the court to extend a commitment, if necessary, to ensure that the rehabilitative purpose of the code is met. See id. To the extent Section 32A-2-23(D) & (F) remain ambiguous regarding the role of the court in extending a commitment order, we now make the import of our discussions in In re Zac McV. and Adam M. expressly clear. We hold that the children's code grants the court jurisdiction and authority to extend a child's commitment on its own motion under Section 32A-2-23(D) & (F). In this case, therefore, the court's express reservation of jurisdiction to review a commitment order is irrelevant.

{12} Ruben's reliance on our language in a former opinion stating that "the children's court may not retain jurisdiction indefinitely" does not aid his cause. State v. Carlos A., 1996-NMCA-082, ¶ 15, 122 N.M. 241, 923 P.2d 608. Carlos A. concerned the court's ability to modify a disposition on a child's motion...