McDonnell v. Juvenile Court in and for Second Judicial Dist., 93SA175

• Decision Date: 13 December 1993
• Docket Number: No. 93SA175,93SA175
• Citation: 864 P.2d 565
• Parties: Barbara McDONNELL, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Institutions; and Colorado Department of Institutions, Petitioners, v. JUVENILE COURT IN AND FOR the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF the STATE OF COLORADO, and the Honorable David E. Ramirez, one of the Judges thereof, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 565

864 P.2d 565

Barbara McDONNELL, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Institutions; and Colorado Department of Institutions, Petitioners, v. JUVENILE COURT IN AND FOR the SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF the STATE OF COLORADO, and the Honorable David E Ramirez, one of the Judges thereof, Respondents.

No. 93SA175.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

Dec. 13, 1993.

Gale A. Norton, Atty. Gen., Timothy M. Tymkovich, Sol. Gen., Paul Farley, Deputy Atty. Gen., John August Lizza, First Asst. Atty. Gen., and Toni Jo Gray, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for petitioners.

Kent Spangler, guardian ad litem, for Minor Child, J.M.

Justice ERICKSON delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this original proceeding the petitioners seek relief in the nature of prohibition and assert that we should invoke our general superintending power. ¹ The petitioners also seek to prevent the respondent judge from using the contempt power to force compliance with his orders. We issued a rule to show cause and now make the rule absolute.

I

The juvenile court, in three separate cases, committed C.W., J.M., and E.H. to the Department of Institutions (DOI). ² In each case, the court ordered the DOI not to send the juvenile to the Glen Mills School in Concordville, Pennsylvania. In the orders regarding C.W. and J.M., the court stated that if the DOI sent the juvenile to the Glen Mills school, the DOI would be held in contempt of court. The DOI accepted custody of the three juveniles and determined that C.W. and J.M. should be placed in the Glen Mills School. The determination was made after the DOI examined and evaluated each youth and considered the physical plant capacity and program limitations of the various Colorado facilities. ³

The DOI alleges it is forced either to violate the placement required by statute or the juvenile court's order. According to the DOI, the orders not to place the juveniles at the Glen Mills School are not binding because the juvenile court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to supervise the DOI or personal jurisdiction over the DOI. ⁴ The response to our rule to show cause was that the orders were proper because the juvenile court was preventing the Executive Branch from exceeding its statutory authority. ⁵ We hold that the juvenile court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to supervise the DOI.

II

A

The juvenile court for the City and County of Denver has no jurisdiction except that provided by statute. Colo. Const. art. VI, § 15; § 13-8-103, 6A C.R.S. (1987); see also Pueblo County Comm'rs v. District Court, 708 P.2d 466 (Colo.1985); City and County of Denver v. Brockhurst Boys Ranch, Inc., 195 Colo. 22, 575 P.2d 843 (1978). The jurisdiction of a juvenile court to sentence offenders is set forth in section 19-2-703(1)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1992 Supp.) which states:

The court may impose any sentence, or combination of sentences when appropriate, provided under this subsection (1) or subsection (3) of this section; except that any juvenile delinquent committed to the department of institutions may be placed in the Lookout Mountain school, the Mount View school, or any other training school or facility, or any other disposition may be made which the department may determine as provided by law. ⁶

A juvenile court does not have jurisdiction over the placement of a delinquent once the delinquent is committed to the DOI. Kort v. Hufnagel, 729 P.2d 370 (Colo.1986); Chonoski v. State, 699 P.2d 416 (Colo.App.1985).

In addition to the statutory limitation the General Assembly has placed on a juvenile court's jurisdiction, the doctrine of separation of powers requires that in most instances the Judicial Department should not impose restrictions on the Executive Department. See, e.g., People v. Montgomery, 669 P.2d 1387 (Colo.1983); People ex rel. Dunbar v. District Court, 180 Colo. 107, 502 P.2d 420 (1972). The province of the Executive Branch is to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Colorado Gen. Assembly v. Lamm, 704 P.2d 1371 (Colo.1985). The Executive Branch, in order to be separate from the other two branches of government, must function independently within its sphere of operation. Lawson v. Pueblo County, 36 Colo.App. 370, 540 P.2d 1136 (1975). Generally, a district court does not have the right to interfere with the Executive Branch of government in performance of its statutory duties. Whittington v. Bray, 200 Colo. 17, 612 P.2d 72 (1980); State Bd. of Cosmetology v. District Court, 187 Colo. 175, 530 P.2d 1278 (1974). Determining whether a court has intruded into the sphere of the Executive Branch requires a case-by-case evaluation. C.C.C. v. District Court, 188 Colo. 437, 535 P.2d 1117 (1975); Mac Manus v. Love, 179 Colo. 218, 499 P.2d 609 (1972).

In this case, the issue of whether the juvenile court has intruded into the powers of the Executive Branch is resolved by Kort v. Hufnagel, 729 P.2d at 372-73. In Kort, the trial court committed an individual to the DOI, but prohibited transfer of that individual to any setting other than a maximum security unit at the Colorado State Hospital. We held the court's order was issued without subject matter jurisdiction and violated the doctrine of separation of powers. We specifically noted that the trial court had statutory authority and subject matter jurisdiction to place the defendant in the custody of the DOI, but ruled there was no indication that the General Assembly intended to give a district court the authority to supervise the DOI or the ability to override the DOI's transfer decisions.

Here, the juvenile court attempted to supervise and control the DOI's placement decision by prohibiting the DOI from transferring the juveniles to the Glen Mills School. Kort established that the juvenile court violated the doctrine of separation of powers and lacked subject matter jurisdiction to order the DOI not to send C.W., J.M., or E.H. to the Glen Mills School.

B

The guardian ad litem (GAL) for J.M. responded to our order to show cause and raises the issue of whether the DOI has the authority to contract with facilities such as the Glen Mills School. The GAL asserts that the juvenile court's order can be justified as an exercise of the court's power to limit actions of the DOI that exceed the General Assembly's statutory grant of authority.

Placement of juveniles committed to the DOI must be "as provided by law." § 19-2-703(1)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.). Section 19-2-1101(3), 8B C.R.S. (1993 Supp.), states: "Once a juvenile is committed to the department of institutions, he shall remain in a facility directly operated by the department of institutions or in a secure facility contracted for by the department of institutions." The power to contract is provided by law. Therefore, the question is whether the General Assembly limited the DOI's power to contract to in-state facilities.

At the time the juvenile court sentenced C.W., J.M., and E.H., the power of the DOI to contract for care of juveniles committed to it was contained in section 19-2-1110, 8B C.R.S. (1992 Supp.), which states:

The executive director of the department of institutions may enter into agreements or contracts with any governmental unit or agency or private facility or provider cooperating or willing to cooperate in a program to carry out the purposes of this part 11 [Institutional Facilities and Transfers].

§ 19-2-1110(1), C.R.S. (1992 Supp.) (emphasis added). The General Assembly's use of the word "any" evinces an intent to allow the DOI broad discretion in contracting for the care of juveniles.

Any doubt about the General Assembly's intent to allow the DOI to contract with out-of-state providers is resolved by the legislative history regarding funding of the DOI's placement of juveniles in out-of-state facilities. The General Assembly specifically appropriated funds for out-of-state placement.

On November 24, 1992, the Colorado Joint Budget Committee requested that the executive director of the DOI submit a written response to the following question: "Has the Department explored the possibility of placing adjudicated juveniles out of state? Please provide a comparison of costs associated with placements in other states versus placements with current in-state vendors." In response, the DOI identified two potential out of state vendors. On December 16, 1992, the DOI submitted a supplemental request for $427,000 for juvenile placements. The DOI, in its request for additional funding, stated the amount was "based upon the availability of 35 out-of-state beds as of March 1, 1993."

On January 26, 1993, the Joint Budget Committee considered the DOI's request for additional money for out-of-state placement and unanimously passed a supplemental appropriation. In approving the appropriation, the Committee stated that it was recommending the DOI use its funds "to begin placing youths at the...