Court Opinion

ID: 7396287
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-07-29 01:17:11.475939+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:21:48.590158
License: Public Domain

LEVINSON, Judge dissenting.
I respectfully dissent, on the grounds that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction *437to enter the order terminating respondent's parental rights. Neither the court's general jurisdiction over proceedings for termination of parental rights, nor its continuing jurisdiction over custody after an initial custody determination, may substitute for the specific standing requirements for termination of parental rights.
Subject matter jurisdiction for termination of parental rights is governed by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-1101 (2005), which provides in pertinent part that:
The court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and determine any petition or motion relating to termination of parental rights to any juvenile who resides in, is found in, or is in the legal or actual custody of a county department of social services . . . at the time of filing of the petition or motion. . . . Provided, that before exercising jurisdiction under this Article, the court shall find that it has jurisdiction to make a child-custody determination under the provisions of G.S. 50A-201, 50A-203, or 50A-204 . . . . (emphasis added).
"When the language of a statute is clear and without ambiguity, it is the duty of this Court to give effect to the plain meaning of the statute, and judicial construction of legislative intent is not required." Diaz v. Division of Soc. Servs., 360 N.C. 384, 387, 628 S.E.2d 1, 3 (2006) (citing Burgess v. Your House of Raleigh, Inc., 326 N.C. 205, 209, 388 S.E.2d 134, 136 (1990)). The language of Section 7B-1101 is "clear and without ambiguity" and must be applied as written. When petitioners filed the termination of parental rights petition, the minor did not reside in North Carolina, was not found in North Carolina, and was not in the custody of a North Carolina county social services agency. Thus, under G.S. § 7B-1101, the court lacked jurisdiction over the case.
This Court has held that there are three sets of circumstances in which the court has jurisdiction to hear a petition to terminate parental rights: (1) if the juvenile resides in the district at the time the petition is filed; (2) if the juvenile is found in the district at the time the petition is filed; or (3) if the juvenile is in the legal or actual custody of a county department of social services or licensed child-placing agency in the district at the time the petition is filed.
In re D.D.J., 177 N.C.App. 441, 442-43, 628 S.E.2d 808, 810 (2006). The majority concedes that "this is a correct statement of the law," yet asserts that "the language of N.C. Gen.Stat. § 7B-1101 and In re D.D.J. does not foreclose the establishment of . . . jurisdiction over a juvenile" in a termination of parental rights proceeding "pursuant to N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 50A-201 and 202 of the UCCJEA." I respectfully disagree for several reasons.
The majority opinion presumably is based on language in Section 7B-1101 following the statute's articulation of the prerequisites for jurisdiction, that "before exercising jurisdiction under this Article, the court shall find that it has jurisdiction to make a child-custody determination under the provisions of G.S. [§ ] 50A-201, 50A-203, or 50A-204." This statutory language requires that the court not only determine that jurisdiction exists under Section 1101, but that it also make sure "before exercising jurisdiction under this Article" that the exercise of jurisdiction would not run afoul of the UCCJEA. The statute nowhere suggests that compliance with the UCCJEA is a substitute for the jurisdiction requirements of G.S. § 7B-1101. Further, while Section 50A-201 et seq. addresses the general limits on a state's jurisdiction in a situation where more than one state might be involved, Section 1101 is specifically addressed to the subject matter jurisdiction requirements for termination of parental rights proceedings. It is a legal truism that "a statute dealing with a specific situation controls, with respect to that situation, other sections which are general in their application." Utilities Comm. v. Electric Membership Corp., 275 N.C. 250, 260, 166 S.E.2d 663, 670 (1969). Accordingly, to the extent that they conflict, the specific provisions of Section 1101 would control jurisdiction in a termination of parental rights case.
Moreover, binding precedent of this Court has held that the provisions of the UCCJEA are no substitute for the jurisdictional requirements of the juvenile code. In In re *438Leonard, 77 N.C.App. 439, 335 S.E.2d 73 (1985), the petitioner father filed to terminate the parental rights of respondent mother. Respondent, who had remarried and moved to Ohio with the minor just days before the petition was filed, argued that "since the mother left with the child for Ohio four days before the petition was filed, the child was not `residing in' or `found in' the district `at the time of filing' and therefore the petition should fail for lack of subject matter jurisdiction." Id. at 440, 335 S.E.2d at 73. This Court agreed, and vacated the order for termination of parental rights. In so doing, the Court expressly rejected the position of the majority opinion. In 1985, as is true today, "[b]efore determining parental rights, the court must find under G.S. § 50A-3 [now § 50A-201 et. seq.] that it has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination." Id. at 441, 335 S.E.2d at 74. In Leonard the trial court had "concluded that it would have jurisdiction to determine [the child's] custody under G.S. § 50A-3 [now § 50A-201, et. seq.]" Id. This Court held that:
While a determination of jurisdiction over child custody matters will precede a determination of jurisdiction over parental rights, it does not supplant the parental rights proceedings.
Id. (emphasis added). It makes no difference whether certain uniform child custody jurisdiction provisions have changed since Leonard was decided in 1985, because the essential holding of Leonard is that jurisdiction under the UCCJEA cannot substitute for the specific termination of parental rights jurisdictional requirements.
Other cases have likewise held that, before exercising jurisdiction over a termination of parental rights proceeding, the trial court must determine that it has jurisdiction under both G.S. § 7B-1101 and Chapter 50A. See, e.g., In re N.R.M. and T.F.M., 165 N.C.App. 294, 298, 598 S.E.2d 147, 149 (2004) (although children present in North Carolina, thus meeting "the general requirement that the children reside in or be found in the district where the petition is filed" the court nonetheless lacked jurisdiction where Arkansas continued to exercise jurisdiction over the child's custody); In re Bean, 132 N.C.App. 363, 366, 511 S.E.2d 683, 686 (1999) (same result where child lived in North Carolina but Florida court still had jurisdiction; Court notes that statute "requires a two-part process" wherein the trial court determines that it has custody under both the UCCJA and G.S. § 7B-1101).
Finally, the holding of In re D.D.J., 177 N.C.App. 441, 628 S.E.2d 808 is functionally indistinguishable from the instant case. In D.D.J. this Court held that, where the court did not have jurisdiction under § 7B-1101, the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the termination of parental rights proceeding. The majority attempts to distinguish D.D.J. on the basis that in that case, unlike the instant case, the petitioner lacked standing to file a petition. This is a distinction without a difference because whether a petitioner has standing to file a petition is an issue completely separate from whether a court has jurisdiction under Section 1101.
The majority is correct that, having made an initial custody determination, North Carolina continued to enjoy exclusive continuing jurisdiction over custody matters generally. However, North Carolina did not meet the specific jurisdictional requirements of Section 1101. Both the plain language of the statute and binding precedent establish that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over this termination of parental rights proceeding. Accordingly, the order on appeal must be vacated.