J.T.S. v.

• Decision Date: 02 June 2015
• Docket Number: WD77713
• Parties: IN THE INTEREST OF: J.T.S.; JUVENILE OFFICER, Respondent, v. H.J.S. (MOTHER), Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)

IN THE INTEREST OF: J.T.S.; JUVENILE OFFICER, Respondent,
v.
H.J.S. (MOTHER), Appellant.

WD77713

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

June 2, 2015

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Platte County, Missouri
The Honorable Wanda A. Hansbrough, Judge

Before Division Four: Lisa White Hardwick, Presiding Judge, James E. Welsh, Judge and Cynthia L. Martin, Judge

H.J.S. ("Mother") appeals an adjudication and disposition judgment of the Circuit Court of Platte County finding that her son, J.S., should be subject to the jurisdiction of the court and placed in the custody of the Missouri Children's Division due to allegations of abuse. Mother alleges that the State failed to properly allege abuse or neglect in its petition and that the court lacked sufficient evidence to find abuse. We dismiss the appeal because it is moot.

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Factual and Procedural Background

Mother is the natural mother of J.S. Six year-old J.S. resided with Mother, his nine year-old sister, E.S., and Mother's boyfriend ("A.K.").

On April 10, 2014, Mother discovered that J.S. had a serious burn on his hip and thigh. Mother immediately sought appropriate medical care for J.S. At the time of the injury, J.S. was in his room. Mother and A.K. were present in the home. Mother did not witness and could not explain how the injury occurred.

On April 11, 2014, the Platte County Juvenile Office ("Juvenile Office") filed for and was granted a request for Temporary Protective Custody of J.S. The Juvenile Office then filed a Petition ("Petition") requesting that J.S. be placed in protective custody. The Petition alleged that J.S. was injured while in the care, custody, and control of Mother and A.K., and that Mother had been unable to provide an explanation as to how the juvenile was injured.¹

A protective custody hearing was held on April 16, 2014. Mother stipulated that J.S. should be placed in protective custody with her parents. The order placing J.S. in protective custody provided that an adjudication hearing would be held on June 9, 2014.

At the adjudication hearing, Mother stipulated that the injuries to J.S. alleged in the Petition occurred. She objected, however, to the Petition, claiming that it was deficient because it failed to allege abuse or neglect pursuant to Section 211.031. Mother further argued that there was insufficient evidence for the Court to make a finding of abuse or neglect as to support jurisdiction pursuant to Section 211.031. The trial court

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entered a Finding of Jurisdiction, Final Order and Judgment of Disposition ("Disposition Judgment") on June 10, 2014, that placed J.S. under the care, custody, and control of the Missouri Children's Division for alternative care and placement.² The Disposition Judgment did not find that J.S. had been abused and found only that J.S. was injured while in the care, custody and control of Mother and A.K. under circumstances where Mother was "unable to provide an explanation" for the injury.

Mother appealed the Disposition Judgment.

Analysis

"Before considering the merits of this dispute, we must determine whether or not we have jurisdiction to decide the appeal." In re J.L.R., 257 S.W.3d 163, 165 (Mo. App. 2008). An appellate court is not permitted to review moot claims of error. Id. "A case is moot when the circumstances that surround it change sufficiently to cause a legal controversy to cease, and a decision by the judiciary would be insignificant in providing effective relief." Id. (citing State ex rel. Missouri Gas Energy v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 224 S.W.3d 20, 24-5 (Mo. App. W.D. 2007)).

The remedy Mother seeks in this appeal is our mandate to vacate the Disposition Judgment and to remove J.S. from the care and custody of the Missouri Children's Division. On April 27, 2015, and, thus, after this appeal was filed, the trial court entered its Order and Judgment on Motion to Terminate Court Jurisdiction, granting Mother's motion to terminate the court's jurisdiction over J.S. and to discharge J.S. from the care, custody, and control of the Missouri Children's Division. The April 27th, 2015 judgment

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expressly ordered that J.S. be "immediately return[ed] to the care, custody and control of [Mother]." Though the April 27, 2015 judgment is not a part of the record in this appeal, it was brought to our attention by the Juvenile Officer in connection with a second appeal taken by Mother from an interim placement determination made by the trial court.³ "In determining mootness, the appellate court may consider facts outside the record." State ex rel. Missouri Gas Energy, 224 S.W.3d at 25 (citing State ex rel. Monsanto Co. v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 716 S.W.2d 791, 793 (Mo. banc 1986)). By virtue of the April 27, 2015 judgment, Mother has secured the relief she seeks in this appeal--the termination of jurisdiction over J.S. and the restoration of J.S. to her care, custody, and control.

Because Mother has now secured the relief she seeks in this appeal, "a decision by this court would not grant any effective relief." In re J.L.R., 257 S.W.3d at 165. The facts of this case are indistinguishable from In re J.L.R. There, a mother took an appeal from a judgment following an adjudication and disposition hearing where the court found abuse had occurred as to which mother failed to protect the minor child. Id. While the appeal was pending, the trial court issued an order returning custody of the child to the mother. Id. We found mother's appeal in that case to be moot, rejecting mother's argument that a trial court in a juvenile matter has "continuing jurisdiction during the adjudication and dispositional phases" creating a live controversy. Id. We noted that the continuing jurisdiction afforded a trial court continues only as "'long as the child is in the custody of the division.'" Id. at 166 (quoting Section 211.032.4).⁴ Here, as in In re

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J.L.R., the April 27, 2015 judgment restoring J.S. to the legal and physical custody of Mother terminated the trial court's jurisdiction. Id. The trial court did not retain continuing jurisdiction to provide services or supervision. Id. There remains no live controversy before this court, rendering Mother's appeal moot.

Appellate courts are required to dismiss appeals that are moot except in "in two narrow situations: when the case becomes moot after submission and argument, and when the issue raised has general public interest and importance and is likely to recur and will otherwise evade appellate review." Id. These exceptions to the mootness doctrine are to be narrowly construed. Cross v. Cross, 815 S.W.2d 65, 66 (Mo. App. E.D. 1991). If an exception to the mootness doctrine applies, dismissal of a moot appeal becomes discretionary. T.D.H. v. O'Connell, 258 S.W.3d 850, 851 (Mo. App. E.D. 2008). Neither exception to the mootness doctrine applies to this case, and even if one did, we would exercise our discretion to dismiss Mother's moot appeal.

Mother argues that the first exception applies because this court assigned a submission date to her case in late January 2015, before entry of the April 27, 2015...