Opinion ID: 2167768
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Heading: Options Available to the Juvenile Court

Text: The county attorney challenges the juvenile court's authority to order the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. Iowa Code section 232.58(3) provides, After the permanency hearing, the court shall do one of the following: a. Enter an order ... to return the child to the child's home; b. Enter an order ... to continue [out-of-home] placement of the child; or c. Direct the county attorney or the attorney for the child to institute proceedings to terminate the parent-child relationship. Iowa Code § 232.58(3) (Supp.2001). Other provisions of the code indicate the juvenile court may consider, as one option, taking the initiative to institute termination proceedings. Iowa Code § 232.102(9) (2001). The county attorney argues the word direct in section 232.58(3)( c ) does not mean the juvenile court has authority to order the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. When we interpret a statute we use, if possible, the commonly understood, everyday meanings of words. Though susceptible to a plethora of definitions, the word direct includes the meaning to order or command. The American Heritage Dictionary 400 (2d college ed.1985). While direct may also be interpreted as a term aimed at merely guiding another's direction, such an interpretation in this instance would be contrary to legislative intent. The intent of the legislature in enacting our juvenile justice statutes was to protect a child's best interests. The legislature's grant of authority to the juvenile court to direct the initiation of termination proceedings under certain circumstances furthers a child's best interests. The juvenile court is given a choice among three alternatives at a permanency hearing. One alternative is clearly to direct the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. It would be nonsensical to find the juvenile court may order the first two alternatives (order the child to be returned to the home or order the child to continue out-of-home placement) but merely suggest to the county attorney a course of action as to the third alternative. See State v. Carpenter, 616 N.W.2d 540, 542 (Iowa 2000) (citing State v. Schultz, 604 N.W.2d 60, 62 (Iowa 1999)) (In determining the intent of the legislature, we will not construe the language of a statute in a manner that will produce an absurd or impractical result.).
The county attorney also contends the statutory language stating a court shall direct the institution of termination proceedings is unconstitutional. Specifically, the county attorney argues this statute is a violation of the separation of powers clause of the Iowa Constitution and an unconstitutional delegation of authority to the judicial branch. Statutes are presumed constitutional and the challenger must show, beyond a reasonable doubt, the statute is unconstitutional and must negate every reasonable basis to support the statute. Johnston v. Veterans' Plaza Auth., 535 N.W.2d 131, 132 (Iowa 1995). The court has powers conferred on it both by the constitution and by statute. The court also possesses broad powers to do whatever is reasonably necessary to discharge [its] traditional responsibilities. State v. Hoegh, 632 N.W.2d 885, 888 (Iowa 2001) (citing Webster County Bd. of Supervisors v. Flattery, 268 N.W.2d 869, 874 (Iowa 1978)). This authority is known as inherent power, and it is derived from the separation of powers between the three branches of government, as well as limited by it. Id. The separation of powers clause of our state constitution provides: The powers of the government of Iowa shall be divided into three departmentsthe legislative, the executive, and the judicial: and no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any function appertaining to either of the others .... Iowa Const. art. III, § 1. This doctrine is designed to prevent the encroachment and aggrandizement of one branch at the expense of another. Channon v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 629 N.W.2d 835, 854 (Iowa 2001). It requires that a branch [of government] not impair another in the performance of its constitutional duties. State v. Phillips, 610 N.W.2d 840, 842 (Iowa 2000) ( citing Loving v. United States, 517 U.S. 748, 757, 116 S.Ct. 1737, 1743, 135 L.Ed.2d 36, 49 (1996)). However, [t]he three branches of government... need not `be entirely separate and distinct.' Channon, 629 N.W.2d at 854 (quoting Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361, 380, 109 S.Ct. 647, 659, 102 L.Ed.2d 714, 736 (1989)). Although a state constitution may define three separate branches of power, there is generally no attempt to compartmentalize them, and perhaps, in truth, there can be no absolute and complete separation of all the powers of practical government. The powers of one department of government have always depended on or have been aided in some way by those of another. Moreover, there is sometimes an overlapping or blending of powers of separate departments. Klouda v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Dep't of Corr. Servs., 642 N.W.2d 255, 261 (Iowa 2002) (quoting 16A Am.Jur.2d Constitutional Law § 249, at 152 (1998)). The three branches of government have a degree of overlapping responsibility, a duty of interdependence as well as independence the absence of which `would preclude the establishment of a Nation capable of governing itself effectively.' Id. (quoting Mistretta, 488 U.S. at 381, 109 S.Ct. at 660, 102 L.Ed.2d at 736). We join the other jurisdictions that have rejected an attempt to narrowly and rigidly compartmentalize the exercise of executive and judicial powers with respect to juvenile proceedings. See In re D.S., 198 Ill.2d 309, 261 Ill.Dec. 281, 763 N.E.2d 251, 258-60 (2001). Bearing in mind the separation of powers doctrine has no rigid boundaries, we now turn to the constitutionality of Iowa Code section 232.58(3)( c ). See Klouda, 642 N.W.2d at 260 (citing People v. P.H., 145 Ill.2d 209, 164 Ill.Dec. 137, 582 N.E.2d 700, 706 (1991)). The juvenile justice system is one area in which we see a sharing of powers between the executive and judicial branches. It is true the county attorney is charged with the responsibility of promoting the best interests of the child. However, under the doctrine of parens patriae, the juvenile court has a concomitant obligation to act in the best interests of the child and to take such action quickly. This obligation is also imposed upon the juvenile court by statute. Iowa Code § 232.116(2). In discharging the court's obligation, it clearly has inherent power to order the county attorney to file a termination petition. In re Interest of C.G., 444 N.W.2d 518, 520-21 (Iowa Ct.App.1989); accord In re Interest of J.R.T., 427 So.2d 251 (Fla.Ct.App.1983) (inherent in the court's obligation to protect the welfare of a minor child is the authority to direct the filing of petition for severance of parental rights); In re D.S., 261 Ill.Dec. 281, 763 N.E.2d at 251 (court's statutory duty to effectuate the best interests of a child may be satisfied by directing the state to prosecute a termination petition and such authority does not violate separation of powers); Phelps v. Sybinsky, 736 N.E.2d 809 (Ind.Ct.App.2000) (in the interest of promoting a child's welfare, the court has authority to direct county attorney to initiate termination proceedings and this authority does not violate separation of powers); In re Interest of D.G.C., 690 So.2d 237 (La. 1997) (court has authority to order the state, the district attorney or DHS, depending upon the circumstances, to institute termination proceedings); In re Interest of V.R., 725 So.2d 241 (Miss. 1998) (the court retains power to direct DHS to initiate termination proceedings regardless of the parents' compliance with the court's requirements); In re G.S., 731 S.W.2d 525 (Mo.Ct.App. 1987) (court has statutory authority to order a juvenile officer to file a petition to terminate parental rights). The court's powers under the juvenile justice statutes are designed to effectuate the best interests of the child which may not necessarily be the same as what the parties are advocating. Some acts can be properly entrusted to more than one branch of government. Hoegh, 632 N.W.2d at 889. The purpose behind delegating authority to both the court and the county attorney to promote a child's best interests is clear. A juvenile court's objective to look after the child's welfare would be compromised if the court did not have the power to direct the county attorney to file a termination petition. Under certain circumstances, the juvenile court can promote the interests of the child only if it is authorized to order the county attorneyeven if against the attorney's wishesto initiate termination proceedings. See In re D.S., 261 Ill.Dec. 281, 763 N.E.2d at 261-62; In re Interest of T.T., 427 So.2d at 1384. Because both the county attorney and the juvenile court are entrusted to act in the best interests of the child, the court's action in this capacity does not conflict with the duties of the executive branch. Id. The crucial days of childhood cannot be suspended while parents experiment with ways to face up to their own problems. In re A.C., 415 N.W.2d 609, 613 (Iowa 1987). Children should not be made to suffer indefinitely in parentless limbo. Id. Where appropriate, the juvenile court has authority to prevent exactly this situation by directing the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. To hold only the county attorney can decide which facts and circumstances justify the filing of a petition to terminate parental rights would be an ultimate frustration and restriction on the juvenile court's duty to promote the best interests of a child. See In re Interest of J.R.T., 427 So.2d at 253. In sum, pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.58(3)( c ), the juvenile court has authority to direct the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. In the interests of a child, the doctrine of separation of powers is not violated because separate spheres of governmental authority may overlap. See In re D.S., 261 Ill.Dec. 281, 763 N.E.2d at 258. This does no violence to our state constitution because the statute does not effectively allow the judicial branch to encroach upon or aggrandize itself at the expense of the executive branch. See Channon, 629 N.W.2d at 854. Rather, the statute is constitutionally designed to allow the judicial and executive branches to share the same responsibility thereby ensuring the best interests of a child.
The county attorney contends that it would be unethical to file a termination petition when the attorney does not support such action. Under this same reasoning, the county attorney would similarly be put in an unethical position to prosecute a criminal case if the attorney personally disagrees with the law. Certainly, one could argue a county attorney is put in a difficult position when asked to pursue a course of action the attorney does not believe is in the best interests of the child. In such cases, a county attorney would be required to prosecute a case the attorney has been opposed to throughout the entire proceedings. The legislature certainly contemplated such situations, though rare, when the juvenile court and county attorney do not agree on the way to handle a particular case. This is, in fact, the primary purpose behind the court's authority to direct the county attorney to initiate termination proceedings. This mechanism provided by the Iowa Code is necessary to prevent children from slipping through the cracks of a CINA action. Our rules of professional conduct provide an attorney shall not [k]nowingly advance a claim or defense that is unwarranted under existing law, except that a lawyer may advance such claim or defense if it can be supported by good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. Iowa Code Prof'l Resp. DR 7-102(A)(2). Any potential ethical conflicts facing the county attorney are remedied by the juvenile court's direction to initiate termination proceedings. See Phelps, 736 N.E.2d at 817 (county attorney does not bring a frivolous action when he or she complies with the court's order to file a termination petition because court is requiring attorney to bring the issue to the court for a judicial determination of the child's best interests). That is, the county attorney's good faith basis for prosecuting a termination stems from the court's order. When the county attorney takes action in compliance with the juvenile court, such action would not be deemed to be unwarranted for lack of a good faith basis. See In re D.S., 261 Ill.Dec. 281, 763 N.E.2d at 261 (Actions on the part of the State in compliance with an order of the circuit court would not be deemed `frivolous.'). Because we have found the juvenile court has authority to direct the county attorney to file a petition to terminate parental rights and such authority is constitutional, we now turn to whether the court's order was appropriate under all of the facts and circumstances of this case.