Ingle v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., CV-13-147

• Citation: 2013 Ark. App. 418
• Decision Date: 19 June 2013
• Docket Number: No. CV-13-147,CV-13-147
• Parties: TONIA INGLE APPELLANT v. ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES and MINOR CHILD APPELLEES
• Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas

2013 Ark. App. 418

TONIA INGLE APPELLANT v. ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES and MINOR CHILD APPELLEES

No. CV-13-147

ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION IV

Opinion Delivered June 19, 2013

APPEAL FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. JV 2012-387]

HONORABLE STACEY ZIMMERMAN, JUDGE

AFFIRMED

RHONDA K. WOOD, Judge

Tonia Ingle appeals from the order of the Washington County Circuit Court, which was entered following a review hearing in the dependency-neglect case concerning her son, C.N. At that hearing, the court placed permanent custody of C.N. with his biological father and closed the dependency-neglect case. Ingle asserts two points on appeal. First, she argues that the circuit court erred in placing permanent custody of C.N. with his father and, second, that the circuit court's order placing permanent custody with the father and closing the case was unauthorized under the Juvenile Code. We affirm the circuit court.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) took C.N. into emergency custody after Ingle's arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia in her home, leaving C.N. without a caretaker. At the probable-cause hearing, the court placed C.N. in the custody of hisbiological father, Jason Neal. The court adjudicated C.N. dependent-neglected based on his mother's arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia, the fact that he was present in the home with drug paraphernalia, and the fact that there was no legal caretaker for him. C.N. remained in the custody of his father with the goal of the case as reunification. At a six-month review hearing, the circuit court determined it was in C.N.'s best interest to be in his father's permanent custody. The court, therefore, placed permanent custody of C.N. with his father and closed the dependency-neglect case.

The burden of proof in dependency-neglect review hearings is preponderance of the evidence. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-325(h)(2)(B) (Supp. 2011). On appeal, our standard of review is de novo, but we will not reverse a circuit court's findings unless they are clearly erroneous. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. v. McDonald, 80 Ark. App. 104, 91 S.W.3d 536 (2002). Our court gives due regard to the circuit court's opportunity to judge the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

In dependency-neglect cases, the court conducts periodic reviews. At this particular six-month review, the court heard substantial testimony from both parents and other interested parties. In the circuit court's ruling from the bench, it was clear that several factors influenced its finding that it was in C.N.'s best interest to remain with his father permanently. The court found Ingle's actions of allowing someone to bring and leave a meth pipe and a marijuana pipe in her home unfavorable. The court also cited other concerns about her lifestyle, including living with a man to whom she is not married. Ingle additionally testified her older seventeen-year-old daughter resided with another woman during the school week, but Ingle did not know the woman's last name. Thecircuit court found Ingle's testimony not credible. Based on the record, we cannot say that the...