McClain v. Superior Court of Chelan County

• Decision Date: 23 August 1920
• Docket Number: 15696.
• Parties: McCLAIN et ux. v. SUPERIOR COURT OF CHELAN COUNTY et al.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

191 P. 852

112 Wash. 260

McCLAIN et ux. v. SUPERIOR COURT OF CHELAN COUNTY et al.

No. 15696.

Supreme Court of Washington

August 23, 1920

Department 2.

Appeal from Superior Court, Chelan County; Wm. A. Grimshaw, Judge.

Petition by Eugene R. McClain and wife to Superior Court of Chelan County for the adoption of Mollie Hodel. Petition dismissed and petitioners appeal. Reversed and remanded, with directions.

L. J Nelson and Herman Howe, both of Leavenworth, for appellants.

BRIDGES J.

In August, 1918, Mollie Hodel became a ward of the juvenile court of Clark county, Wash. In January, 1919, that court awarded the temporary custody and control of the child to the Washington Children's Home Society, of Seattle, Wash. In March, 1919, the juvenile court made a judgment, ordering that the said minor 'be and hereby is committed to the permanent custody of the Washington Children's Home Society, of Seattle, Wash., and the said society is hereby authorized and empowered to consent to the adoption of the said child by such person, or persons, as shall, by the said society, be found competent and desirous of so doing.' Thereafter the society intrusted to the appellants, Eugene R. McClain and Minnie G. McClain, his wife, the temporary care, custody, and control of the child. The appellants are residents of Chelan county, Wash. In August, 1919, they presented to the superior court of that county their petition for the adoption of said minor. The petition for adoption recited, in substance, the facts here set out, and attached thereto was the written consent of the Washington Children's Home Society for the legal adoption of the child by the appellants. Thereafter the father and mother of the child were duly brought into the adoption proceedings by publication of notice as provided by law in such cases.

On October 30, 1919, the Chelan county court, upon reading the petition for adoption, made an order, dismissing the petition for want of jurisdiction; such order being in part as follows:

'The court now finds from said petition that it is without jurisdiction to grant the relief prayed for, for the reason that the juvenile court of Clarke county, Wash., has continuing jurisdiction of said Mollie Hodel, a minor child for which reason the court declines to consider or pass upon the said petition. It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed that said petition be, and the same is hereby, denied. * * *'

The appeal is from this order.

The only question for our determination is whether the superior court of Chelan county has jurisdiction to hear this petition.

Section 1987-1, Rem. Code, being a part of the Juvenile Court Law, provides that for the purpose of the act all delinquent and dependent children within the state shall be considered wards of the state, and their persons shall be subject to the custody, care, guardianship, and control of the court. Section 1987-8 provides that the juvenile court may at any time make an order, committing any delinquent or dependent child 'to some suitable institution, or to the care of some reputable citizen of good moral character, or to the care of some training school or industrial school as provided by law, or to the care of some association willing to receive it, embracing in its objects the purpose of caring for or obtaining homes for dependent, neglected, or delinquent children; provided such order may be temporary or permanent in the discretion of the court and may be revoked or modified as the circumstances of the case may thereafter require.'

Section 1987-9 provides that, where the court shall award a child to any such person or association, such child shall become the ward and subject to the guardianship of such association or person, and that 'such association shall have authority, with the assent of the court, to place such child in a family home, either temporarily or for adoption.' This section further provides that the court may, under certain circumstances, make a decree of adoption, transferring to any suitable person all the rights of the parent or guardian to such child, and that 'the jurisdiction of the court shall continue over each child brought before the court, or committed pursuant to this act, and the court shall have power to order a change in the care or custody of such child, if at any time it is made to appear to the court that it would be for the best interests of the child to make such change.'

Section 1987-10 provides, among other things, that----

'After acquiring jurisdiction over any child, the court shall have the power to make an order with respect to the custody, care or control of such child, or any order, which in the judgment of the court, would promote the child's health and welfare. * * * Or the court may commit the child to the care and custody of some association that will receive such child. * * *'

Section 1987-14 provides that the act shall be liberally construed to the end that its purpose may be carried out, and that 'in all cases where it can be properly done, the dependent or delinquent child as defined in this act shall be placed in an approved family and may become a...