Court Opinion

ID: 9627566
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:47:45.885347+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:34:26.557854
License: Public Domain

MACY, Justice,
specially concurring.
I concur in the result reached in this case; however, I want to briefly address an issue which the majority hurried past in its resolution of the case. I question whether a mother’s parental rights are subject to disposition by the juvenile court when the petition contains no allegation charging her with neglect. When neglect is alleged against either or both of the parents, Wyo. Stat. § 14-6-226(a) through (c) (1977) contemplates a three-stage process: (1) Each parent is advised of the specific allegations set forth in the petition and given an opportunity to either admit or deny them; (2) if the allegations contained in the petition are denied, the court shall conduct an adjudicatory hearing to determine the truth of the allegations in the petition; and (3) after an adjudicatory hearing, the court shall either dismiss the petition (because the allegations have not been established) or enter its decree stating the jurisdictional facts upon which its finding of neglect is based.
Focusing on the present case, it seems to me that the above process has been compromised when an allegation that the father has “neglected” MKM is used to affect the mother’s parental rights. A parent’s rights, vis-a-vis the child, are not subject to the juvenile court’s disposition, Wyo. Stat. § 14-6-229(a) (1977), absent an allegation and finding that the parent has committed an act of neglect. In this instance, the only allegation of neglect contained in the petition was directed at MKM’s father. The mother was not put on notice that her conduct constituted neglect, and her opportunity under § 14-6-226(a) to deny the allegation was curtailed.
Because, as pointed out in the majority opinion, the mother participated in subsequent proceedings and was able to assert her parental rights, notwithstanding the absence of an allegation of neglect directed at her, I agree with the result reached by the majority.