Opinion ID: 1146057
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Validity of the Appointment of the Conservator.

Text: The contention of the petitioner is that the county court lacked jurisdiction to appoint a conservator prior to the adjudication by the jury. Counsel argue that the entry of an order following the report of the medical commission as to the sanity of the respondent is not an adjudication which authorized the appointment of a conservator. We are unable to agree with this position. The applicable provision of the statute, 152-9-2 (1957 Cum.Supp.), reads:  Conservatorwhen appointed. (1) Whenever it shall appear to the county court that a person has been adjudicated mentally ill or mentally deficient, and is a resident of the county or has property within such county which must be conserved, and has no conservator appointed by any county court within this state, said court shall appoint some fit person as conservator of the estate of said mentally ill or mentally deficient person. When is a person adjudicated? The section of the statute pertaining to adjudication, commitment and custody is C.R.S. '53, 71-1-11 (1957 Cum.Supp.), and this provides in pertinent part:  Adjudication, commitment, and custody. (1) If the report of the medical commission finds that the respondent is mentally ill or mentally deficient, the court shall, within six days after the return of said report, enter an order adjudicating the respondent mentally ill or mentally deficient. The court shall include in such order provisions for the commitment or custody of the respondent. The use of the term adjudicating indicates that a jury verdict is not an essential requisite of adjudication within the meaning of 152-9-2, supra. To be sure, this initial adjudication is an interlocutory one where a jury trial has been requested. However, the statute relative to appointment of conservators does not require that the person shall have been finally adjudicated mentally ill by a jury as a condition precedent to the appointment of a conservator. Therefore, we are of the opinion that the county court acted within the powers granted to it by statute when it appointed the conservator herein prior to impaneling a jury. Acceptance of the petitioner's contention could mean delay in the appointment of a conservator and could result in loss of property. The statute does not tie the hands of the county court in this manner. Our attention has been directed to a number of cases, but there is only one which deals with the exact point and that is a decision of the Court of Appeals in Jones v. Learned, 17 Colo.App. 76, 66 P. 1071, 1072 and the Court stated: The absence of a verdict of insanity was also fatal to the judgments. The opinion in the Jones case discloses that the proceeding there arose under statutes which were in effect in 1883 and the reference is to 2 Mills Ann.Statutes, Sec. 2935. An examination of that statute discloses that under its provisions the county court was powerless to adjudicate a person insane or to make any other orders with respect thereto until a jury of six had declared the individual as so insane or distracted in mind as to be incapable and unfit to take care of and manage his or her estate. Thus neither Jones v. Learned nor the other decisions cited are authoritative on the present subject and we must conclude that the quoted statutes authorize the action which was taken.