Opinion ID: 2367407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Laconia Case: Town and County Liability.

Text: The Laconia case arises from a finding by the Laconia District Court ( Martin, S.J.) that three children from separate families were either abused or neglected and should be placed in the custody of the division of welfare. See RSA 169-C:19, I(b) (Supp. 1981). The City of Laconia was ordered to pay the foster-care expenses for each child pursuant to RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982). At the hearing on the issue of liability, see RSA 169-C:27, II (Supp. 1982), the City of Laconia established that none of the children's parents was able to reimburse the city for the resulting expenses imposed, nor did they have legal settlement pursuant to RSA 164-A:1, I (Supp. 1981), since they had not lived in the city for one year. The city argued that, because RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982) treats payments made in behalf of a child as assistance to a pauper as to the person chargeable by law for the child's support, and because the children's parents never obtained legal settlement in the city, the parents were therefore county paupers, see RSA 166:1, I (Supp. 1981). Consequently, the city maintained that the County of Belknap was ultimately liable for the children's expenses. See RSA 165:20 (Supp. 1981). The Laconia District Court ordered the City of Laconia to pay the expenses of the three children, noting that it in turn can seek reimbursement from the responsible person. The city appealed to Superior Court ( Cann, J.), which transferred to this court without ruling certain questions regarding liability. The City of Laconia does not question its initial liability under RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982) for the expenses of three children found by the Laconia District Court to be abused or neglected. The city does contest its ultimate liability, however, on the ground that none of the children's parents had established legal settlement in the city pursuant to RSA 164-A:1, I (Supp. 1981). Therefore, the city asserts that it may recover its expenses from the County of Belknap pursuant to RSA 165:20 (Supp. 1981) for assistance to county paupers. [11, 12] Before discussing the merits of the city's argument, however, we must address the Belknap County Commissioners' contention that RSA 169-C:28 (Supp. 1981) does not provide a statutory basis for allowing the city to appeal the district court's liability order to superior court, where this interlocutory appeal originated. Although the city would qualify as a party having an interest within the meaning of RSA 169-C:28 (Supp. 1981), we agree with the county commissioners that the legislative intent of this provision was only to allow for appeals regarding final dispositional orders of abuse or neglect. In the future, any relief from district court liability orders can only be obtained by a petition for a writ of certiorari. Because we have not previously ruled on the scope of appeals under RSA 169-C:28 (Supp. 1981), and because of the important questions presented in this case, we will decide this interlocutory appeal. See Wood v. General Elec. Co., 119 N.H. 285, 288, 402 A.2d 155, 157 (1979); Chesley v. Estate of Chesley, 117 N.H. 280, 282, 372 A.2d 281, 283 (1977). The crux of the City of Laconia's claim is that RSA 169-C:27 (Supp. 1982) is not a self-contained provision for determining liability for expenses under RSA chapter 169-C, and that it may seek reimbursement from the County of Belknap under the State's general welfare laws, RSA chapters 164-A, 165, and 166. The county commissioners dispute this contention, arguing that the legislature intended the State's juvenile laws to be specific remedies for the care of problem children and that financial liability under RSA chapters 169-B, 169-C, and 169-D should be determined independently of the State's general welfare laws. We agree with the city that ultimate liability for the placement of delinquent children, abused or neglected children, and CHINS should be determined by reference to the general welfare laws. As the community of the children's residence, the City of Laconia is liable in the first instance for their placement expenses. RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982), as well as the correlative liability sections of the delinquency and CHINS statutes, then gives the city a right of recovery against the children's parents. Because the city in this case cannot collect from the parents the payments which it made in the children's behalf, the payments shall be considered assistance to ... pauper[s] as to the . . . [parents] and . . . [they] shall be subject to a loss of settlement in accordance with the provisions of RSA 164-A:5. RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982) (emphasis added). [13, 14] Settlement is a term of art and is nowhere defined in the juvenile laws; in order to understand the remedy contained within the liability sections of those laws, reference must be made to the general welfare laws, where the term takes on legal significance. In addition, loss of settlement only makes sense if a person first gains a settlement pursuant to RSA 164-A:1, I (Supp. 1982)in this case, through the parents' residence in the city of Laconia for one year without receiving pauper assistance from the city during that time. See RSA 164-A:4. Thus, since the parents never gained legal settlement in the city, they are county paupers, meaning those for whose support no person or town in this State is chargeable . . . . RSA 166:1, I (Supp. 1981). Consequently, the county is liable for their support, see RSA 166:10 (Supp. 1981), and the City of Laconia has a right to reimbursement from the County of Belknap pursuant to RSA 165:20 (Supp. 1981). See In re Eva S., 121 N.H. 847, 850-51, 435 A.2d 838, 840 (1981). If the parents had gained legal settlement in the city of Laconia by living there for one year without receiving pauper assistance, then the city would have been ultimately liable for the children's expenses for the first 365 days, see RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982), and would have had a right to be indemnified by the county thereafter. See RSA 166:10 (Supp. 1981); 165:20 (Supp. 1981). This interpretation of the interaction between the juvenile laws and the general welfare laws is borne out by the 1981 amendments to RSA 169-B:40, I, 169-C:27, I, and 169-D:29, I which state: If a town cannot collect for such payments made in behalf of a child, the payments shall be considered assistance to a pauper as to the person chargeable by law for the child's support and necessities and such person shall be subject to a loss of settlement in accordance with the provisions of RSA 164-A:5 provided that such person has a settlement in such town. (Emphasis added.) Our reading of the interrelation of the juvenile and general welfare laws is not contrary to our holding in Juvenile Case #1089, 119 N.H. 64, 398 A.2d 65 (1979), where we stated: [S]ettlement law is irrelevant to any issue involving the support of a neglected child. General support liability for neglected children is determined exclusively under the provisions of [former] RSA ch. 169. Id. at 66, 398 A.2d at 67. In that case, we were passing only upon the claim that a child's residence, for the purpose of fixing liability for tuition for handicapped children under former RSA chapter 186-A (current version at RSA chapter 186-C (Supp. 1981)), should have been determined by application of the settlement law under RSA chapter 164-A. In the instant case, we are squarely confronted with the question of liability for expenses under the State's juvenile laws, a statutory scheme entirely distinct from the special education laws, RSA chapter 186-C. [15] In summary, we hold that the City of Laconia initially is the legally liable unit for the placement expenses incurred in this case, pursuant to RSA 169-C:27, I (Supp. 1982). Because the children's parents never gained a legal settlement in the City of Laconia pursuant to RSA 164-A:1, I (Supp. 1981), however, they are county paupers as defined by RSA 166:1, I (Supp. 1981), and the city has a right to reimbursement under RSA 165:20 (Supp. 1981) for all payments made for the children's expenses.