Court Opinion

ID: 9690940
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:53:12.45158+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:06.892987
License: Public Domain

JON E WILCOX, J.
¶ 60. (concurring). I agree with the majority that a continuance may be granted directly under Wis. Stat. § 48.315(2) (2003-04).1 Furthermore, I agree that a proper continuance was granted in this case, as the record establishes the requisite good cause under § 48.315(2). I write separately to address my concern that the majority does not adequately recognize the problems of court congestion and that such congestion may, in appropriate instances such as this, constitute good cause for a continuance.
*168¶ 61. The problems in conducting the fact-finding hearing beyond the 45-day time limit mandated by Wis. Stat. § 48.422(2) were not limited to lawyer and litigant scheduling problems. Another significant problem, but discussed only offhand by the majority, was the lack of available dates in the court's calendar. Notably, the court needed a full week of trial time to properly hear all of the evidence, given the volume of documents produced by the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare.
¶ 62. The week of November 3, 2003, was the first available time frame on the circuit court's calendar. The fact-finding hearing would have been within the 45-day time period required under § 48.422(2) on this date. When the assistant district attorney and one of the guardians ad litem notified the court of scheduling conflicts, Robert K. argues that there was no reason given for why dates prior to November 3 were never considered.
¶ 63. I believe that it is readily apparent that court congestion was a significant factor in the delay of this case. There simply were no other dates prior to November 3 available for a full week of trial time. The Milwaukee County Children's Court is on a tight six-week scheduling system that makes it extremely difficult in complicated TPR cases such as this one, to meet the strict timing demands of the Children's Code despite the best efforts of a sometimes overwhelmed judiciary.
¶ 64. Indeed, Wisconsin case law has recognized that court congestion may be a legitimate reason for granting a continuance. As the court of appeals has stated: "A continuance can be granted by a court to a party under § 48.315(2) for court congestion provided that good cause is shown and the trial court does so in a timely manner on the record." In re J.R., 152 Wis. 2d *169598, 607, 449 N.W.2d 52 (Ct. App. 1989); accord State v. April O., 2000 WI App 70, ¶ 9, 233 Wis. 2d 663, 607 N.W.2d 927.
¶ 65. It is no secret that court congestion is a serious problem that plagues the Milwaukee County Children's Court and affects its ability to meet the statutory deadlines of Chapter 48. Granted, congestion may not constitute good cause in every instance, but in this case, congestion clearly was an important factor that bore on the decision to extend the time beyond the 45-day limit between the hearing on the petition and the fact-finding hearing. As such, the court should take this opportunity to acknowledge that congestion may constitute good cause sufficient for a continuance under § 48.315(2) in appropriate instances.
¶ 66. I am authorized to state that Justices DAVID T. PROSSER and PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK join this concurrence.

 All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2003-04 version unless otherwise indicated.