In re X.V.H., DA 13–0858.

• Docket Nº: No. DA 13–0858.
• Citation: 348 P.3d 672, 378 Mont. 541
• Case Date: March 03, 2015
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Montana

378 Mont. 541
348 P.3d 672 (Table)

In the Matter of X.V.H., A Youth.

No. DA 13–0858.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs Jan. 28, 2015.
Decided March 3, 2015.

For Appellant: Nancy G. Schwartz, N.G. Schwartz Law, PLLC; Billings, Montana.

For Appellee: Timothy C. Fox, Montana Attorney General, Tammy A. Hinderman, Assistant Attorney General; Helena, Montana, Bernard G. Cassidy, Lincoln County Attorney, Robert Slomski, Deputy Lincoln County Attorney; Libby, Montana.

Opinion

Justice JAMES JEREMIAH SHEA delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(d), Montana Supreme Court Internal Operating Rules, this case is decided by memorandum opinion and shall not be cited and does not serve as precedent. Its case title, cause number, and disposition shall be included in this Court's quarterly list of noncitable cases published in the Pacific Reporter and Montana Reports.

¶ 2 X.V.H., a youth, appeals the November 4, 2013 Youth Court order of commitment of the Nineteenth Judicial District, Lincoln County, which revokes his Youth Court probation and requires X.V.H. to register as a Level 2 sex offender. We affirm.

¶ 3 On November 26, 2012, the Youth Court filed an order of commitment for X.V.H. after X.V.H. admitted to two counts of felony sexual assault of two child victims. X.V.H. was ordered to serve probation at Alternative Youth Adventures (AYA) in Boulder. The terms of X.V.H.'s probation included condition 3: being obedient to guardians, teachers, therapist, group home staff, and his probation officer, and condition 4: successfully completing a sex offender treatment program. The order of commitment stated: “The Court defers any decision regarding requiring registration of the Youth as a sexual offender until after the Youth has completed treatment.”

¶ 4 The State filed a petition to revoke probation on October 16, 2013. The petition alleged that X.V.H. violated condition 3 of probation by not being obedient to authority figures and condition 4 by not successfully completing treatment. At the hearing on the petition to revoke, X.V.H. admitted to violating conditions 3 and 4 of his probation. The Youth Court also addressed his sexual abuse of a third child victim, to which X.V.H. had not immediately admitted in sessions with his therapist. The second order of commitment was filed on November 5, 2013. The second order revoked probation, committed X.V.H. to Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility in Miles City, and required X.V.H. to register as a Level 2 sex offender. X.V.H. appeals the second order of commitment.

¶ 5 X.V.H. argues that the Youth Court abused its discretion by ordering him to register as a sex offender because he had not yet completed treatment. X.V.H. notes that the first order of commitment provided that the Youth Court deferred the decision of requiring registration “until after the Youth has completed treatment.” X.V .H. asserts that completion of treatment was a “condition precedent” to the decision of registration, and since that condition had not yet occurred, the Youth Court's decision to require him to register was premature. X.V.H. contends that the Youth Court should have continued to defer the decision until he had completed treatment at Pine Hills.

¶ 6 The State argues that X.V.H. was required to register as a sex offender under the Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act, §§ 46–23–501, MCA, et. seq.,...