A.C. v. Judicial Dist. Court
Annotate this CaseThe child abuse and neglect proceedings (DN cases) at issue here commenced with the filing of a petition for emergency protective services, adjudication as youth in need of care and temporary legal custody. Parent was served with a show cause order on February 5, 2012. On February 7, the office of public defender filed a notice of appearance on behalf of Parent. The court continued the show cause hearing until February 22. On February 21, Parent filed a motion to substitute judge. The district court concluded that Parent's initial appearance under Mont. Code Ann. 3-1-804(1)(b) was February 7, the date of appearance of counsel, and therefore the motion for substitution was untimely and must be denied. Parent subsequently sought supervisory control. The Supreme Court granted Parent's petition, holding that the district court erred in determining that it was the date of appearance of counsel that started the clock running for purposes of a motion for substitution of judge in a DN proceeding, as it is the date upon which a parent first appears in court to answer the allegations of a DN petition that constitutes her initial appearance for purposes of the substitution statute. Remanded.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.