Opinion ID: 1316607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: emergency removal orders

Text: Appellant raises several issues relating to orders issued as a result of ex parte, merit, and contempt proceedings in 1991 and 1992. Appellant argues the issues are properly before this Court because all orders issued before the August 1996 order terminating her parental rights were interlocutory in nature and not immediately appealable. We disagree. A law enforcement officer may take a child into emergency protective custody in appropriate circumstances. S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-610(A) (Supp.1997). In addition, the family court may issue an ex parte order allowing DSS to take a child into emergency protective custody in appropriate circumstances. S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-610(P) (Supp.1997). DSS must begin a preliminary investigation within twenty-four hours after a child is taken into emergency protective custody to determine whether grounds for assuming legal custody of the child exist. S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-610(D) (Supp.1997). The family court must hold a probable cause hearing within seventy-two hours of the time the child was taken into custody. S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-610(M) (Supp.1997). Upon assuming legal custody of the child, DSS must begin a child protective investigation. On or before the next working day after beginning the investigation, DSS must initiate a removal proceeding in family court. The family court must hold a merit hearing within thirty-five days of receipt of the removal petition to determine whether removal is necessary. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 20-7-610(K) and 20-7-736(E) (Supp.1997). Prosecutors, DSS, and the family court must strictly comply with this schedule of hearings. The family court should order custody be returned to the child's parent or legal guardian if the hearings are not held within ten days after the statutory time limits. Doe v. State, 294 S.C. 125, 363 S.E.2d 106 (1987). The family court must review treatment, placement, and permanent plans involving children. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 20-7-762 to -766 (Supp.1997). While the Legislature has amended Section 20-7-610 three times since 1991, the basic process of judicial reviewa possible ex parte order, a probable cause hearing, and a merit hearinghas remained the same. [3] In Doe v. State, supra , we concluded a mother who consented to the removal of her children at a merit hearing was barred from later raising statutory and constitutional challenges in the Court of Common Pleas. We indicated the mother could have appealed the order if she had not consented to it. Appellant's case presents similar facts. She consented to the removal of her children in an order dated July 31, 1991, which was issued after a merit hearing. Appellant agreed, among other things, to undergo a psychological evaluation and seek mental health counseling in order to rectify the problems and reunite her family. We hold that appellant may not appeal that consent order because such orders are not appealable. See Doe v. State, supra ; Wilson v. All, 86 S.C. 586, 68 S.E. 824 (1910) (court will not entertain appeal from an order issued with parties' consent); Smith v. Lowery, 56 S.C. 493, 35 S.E. 129 (1900) (same); Parsons v. Gibbes, 59 S.C. 215, 37 S.E. 753 (1901) (same); Calcutt v. Calcutt, 282 S.C. 565, 320 S.E.2d 55 (Ct.App.1984) (same). We further hold that an ex parte emergency removal order issued by the family court is interlocutory in nature and not immediately appealable. See Mid-State Distributors, Inc. v. Century Importers, Inc. 310 S.C. 330, 335, 426 S.E.2d 777, 780 (1993) (teaching that an order is interlocutory [i]f there is some further act which must be done by the court prior to a determination of the rights of the parties ... or [i]f a judgment determines the applicable law while leaving open questions of fact); In the Interest of Lorenzo B., 307 S.C. 439, 415 S.E.2d 795 (1992) (order adjudicating a juvenile to be delinquent is not immediately appealable; instead appeal may be taken after imposition of final judgment at dispositional hearing); State v. Dingle, 279 S.C. 278, 306 S.E.2d 223 (1983) (ex parte order issued by trial judge in homicide case to have defendant undergo mental examination is not immediately appealable), abrogated on other grounds, Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990); 4 C.J.S. Appeal and Error § 102 (1993) (generally no appeal lies from an ex parte order). We also hold, for the same reasons, that an order issued as a result of a probable cause hearing in an emergency removal case is interlocutory in nature and not immediately appealable. At that point, any investigation by law enforcement or DSS, as well as any consideration of the case by the family court, is at such an early stage an appellate court would have little or nothing to review. However, any order issued as a result of a merit hearing, as well as any later order issued with regard to a treatment, placement, or permanent plan, is a final order that a party must timely appeal. At that point, investigators and DSS have presented evidence to the family court, the parents or guardians of the child have had an opportunity to challenge the evidence and present their case, and the family court has decided whether the allegations of the removal petition are supported by a preponderance of the evidence as required by S.C.Code Ann. § 20-7-736(F) (Supp.1997). See Mid-State Distributors, Inc., supra (explaining that an order is a final judgment that may immediately be appealed when there is no further act to be done by the court prior to a determination of the rights of the parties); Culbertson v. Clemens, 322 S.C. 20, 471 S.E.2d 163 (1996) (stating the general rule that only final judgments are appealable); Mears v. Mears, 287 S.C. 168, 337 S.E.2d 206 (1985) (timely service of notice of appeal is jurisdictional requirement and this Court may not extend the time for doing it); Rules 201(a) and 203(b)(3), SCACR. Similarly, a contempt order also is a final order that is immediately appealable. Appellant consented to the issuance of the contempt order in October 1991 which, as explained above, meant she could not appeal that order. She did not consent to the issuance of the contempt order in February 1992, but failed to timely appeal it. See Ex Parte Whetstone, 289 S.C. 580, 347 S.E.2d 881 (1986) (party may refuse to comply with discovery order and then appeal after he is held in contempt for failure to comply); Jarrell v. Petoseed Co., 331 S.C. 207, 500 S.E.2d 793 (Ct.App.1998) (trial court's finding that seller was liable for civil compensatory contempt was immediately appealable even though damages were undetermined and fraud claim had not been decided). Treating orders issued as a result of merit, contempt, or other subsequent hearings as interlocutory orders, as appellant suggests, would mean parents or guardians would be unable to seek appellate review of DSS's actions and the family court's decisions until someone finally moved to terminate the parents' or guardians' rights. As this case illustrates, years may elapse between the removal of a child from the home and an action to terminate the parents' rights in the child. A system such as appellant suggests would constitute an unacceptable infringement of the parents' rights, as well as delay or prevent timely review of important decisions involving the custody and care of children. Under our analysis, then, appellant should not have consented to the merit order dated July 31, 1991, or the contempt order in October 1991 if she wished to carry any issues or arguments to an appellate court. She also had to timely appeal any subsequent orders of the family court regarding the custody of her children or the treatment plan that she wished to challenge. Because she consented to the orders or failed to timely appeal them, the issues she now raises are not properly before the Court. See Mears v. Mears, supra .