Opinion ID: 1314324
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: The Juvenile Court Had Jurisdiction to Terminate Sonya's Parental Rights

Text: Sonya claims that the juvenile court was without jurisdiction in case No. S-05-537 when it terminated her parental rights. Sonya claims that the juvenile court was divested of jurisdiction because Justin, the biological father of Jagger, was appealing a separate order terminating his parental rights when Sonya's parental rights in case No. S-05-537 were considered. Sonya misperceives the law in this area. In In re Interest of Joshua M. et al., 251 Neb. 614, 558 N.W.2d 548 (1997), we stated that a juvenile court does not have jurisdiction to terminate a juvenile's relationship with his or her parent while an appeal by that parent is pending in that juvenile case. However, that decision was limited to a circumstance where the mother was appealing an order removing her children, and we concluded that the pendency of that appeal precluded consideration of the State's petition to terminate the mother's parental rights. The record in this appeal shows that Justin's case is essentially separate from Sonya's case and is based upon different facts. Given these circumstances, we conclude the juvenile court was not divested of jurisdiction to terminate Sonya's parental rights in case No. S-05-537 during the pendency of the appeal of the order terminating Justin's parental rights to Jagger. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.