Ricky Masters v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
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Ricky MASTERS v. ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN
SERVICES
__ S. W.3d ___
CA05915
Court of Appeals of Arkansas
Opinion delivered June 14, 2006
APPEAL & ERROR – APPEAL DISMISSED AS MOOT – APPELLATE COURT DECISION WOULD HAVE
HAD NO PRACTICAL LEGAL EFFECT ON AN EXISTING LEGAL CONTROVERSY.– Where the trial
court adjudicated both of appellant’s children dependentneglected and subsequently issued
an order terminating appellant’s parental rights to one of the children based on the finding that
appellant had been sentenced in a criminal proceeding to a term of imprisonment that
constituted a substantial period of the child’s life, and appellant did not appeal from the
termination order, a reversal of the adjudication order based on the fact that the probable
cause hearing was held one day late would not change the findings of fact in this case
regarding the termination decision; moreover, appellant did not take issue with the
adjudication order, rather it was the probable cause hearing, and probable cause orders are
not appealable; appellant’s appeal, therefore, was moot.
Appeal from Faulkner County Circuit Court; Linda P. Collier, Judge; appeal dismissed.
Glen Hoggard, for appellant.
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ROAF, J. 12
MASTERS v. ARKANSAS DEP’T OF HUMAN SERVS.
Cite as 91 Ark. App. ___ (2006)
Page 2
Gray Allen Turner, Office of Chief Counsel, Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., for appellee.
ANDREE LAYTON ROAF, Judge. Ricky Masters appeals the trial court’s order adjudicating
his son D.M. as dependentneglected. On appeal, he argues (1) that the trial court erred in denying
his motion to dismiss the case because of an untimely probable cause hearing and (2) that the trial
court’s finding that he posed a danger to D.M. was not supported by sufficient evidence. The
appellee, Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS), has supplemented the record in this case
with a subsequent order terminating Ricky’s parental rights to D.M. on grounds that were not the
basis of either the probable cause determination or adjudication order. Because Ricky has not
appealed from the termination order, we dismiss this appeal as moot.
Because we are dismissing the appeal, a detailed recitation of the facts is not necessary. DHS
initiated a dependencyneglect case in February 2005 regarding B.E. and D.M., Jennifer and Ricky
Masters’ two children, after Ricky was accused of sexually abusing B.E., Jennifer’s daughter by a
previous marriage. D.M. is the Masters’ son. A probable cause hearing was held on March 1, 2005.
Ricky moved for a dismissal because the probable cause hearing was held one day outside the
required five business days after the emergency order was signed. The trial court denied the motion
to dismiss. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found probable cause for DHS to take
custody of both children. On March 8, there was a hearing on DHS’s motion to stop Ricky’s
visitation with D.M. because he had confessed to molesting B.E. The trial court noted that it was
___________________________
ROAF, J. 12
MASTERS v. ARKANSAS DEP’T OF HUMAN SERVS.
Cite as 91 Ark. App. ___ (2006)
Page 3
dealing with a “confessed sexual offender” and that it wanted to protect D.M. until it could confirm
that he could be safe. The trial court allowed supervised visitation at DHS.
At the dependencyneglect hearing on April 24, 2005, Ricky renewed his motion to dismiss
on the basis that the probable cause hearing was not held within the statutorilymandated time frame.
The trial court again denied the motion. At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court ordered that
placement of D.M. and B.E. continue with the maternal grandparents and adjudicated both children
dependentneglected.
Ricky appeals only from the April 28, 2005 adjudication order. However, after the case was
filed with this court, DHS moved to supplement the record and to dismiss the appeal as moot. This
court granted the motion to supplement the record with an order terminating Ricky’s parental rights
to D.M. that was filed on September 8, 2005. In this regard, DHS asserts that a decision in the
present case would not change the legal standing of the parties because the termination of Ricky’s
parental rights was not based on D.M. previously being found dependentneglected at the
adjudication hearing. We agree.
A case is moot when any decision rendered by this court will have no practical legal effect on
an existing legal controversy. Richardson v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 86 Ark. App. 142, 165
S.W.3d 127 (2004). Here, the trial court issued an order terminating Ricky’s parental rights to D.M.
based on the finding that Ricky had been sentenced in a criminal proceeding to a term of
imprisonment that constituted a substantial period of D.M.’s life. Ricky did not appeal from this
___________________________
ROAF, J. 12
MASTERS v. ARKANSAS DEP’T OF HUMAN SERVS.
Cite as 91 Ark. App. ___ (2006)
Page 4
order; therefore, any decision that this court makes in the instant appeal regarding the timeliness of
the probable cause hearing would have no legal effect on an existing controversy.
Ricky argues that the issue is not moot because the juvenile code’s structure and sequence
requires a dependentneglected adjudication as a prerequisite for the termination of parental rights
and that the juvenile code expressly sets a dependentneglected adjudication as a necessary condition
1
for the termination grounds pled by DHS in this case. Ricky, however, has not appealed the
termination order. A reversal of the adjudication order based on the fact that the probable cause
hearing was held one day late would not change the findings of fact in this case regarding the
termination decision. Moreover, it is not the adjudication order that Ricky takes issue with, it is the
probable cause hearing, and probable cause orders are not appealable. Ricky’s appeal, therefore, is
moot.
Appeal dismissed.
GLOVER and NEAL, JJ., agree.
1
Arkansas Code Annotated section 927341(b)(3)(B)(viii) was amended in 2005 so that the adjudication requirement
was removed from this ground for termination, which is that the parent is sentenced in a criminal proceeding for a
period of time that would constitute a substantial period of the juvenile’s life. There is no longer a requirement that
other conditions in either (b)(3)(B)(i) or (ii) be met along with this condition. The 2005 amendment took effect on
August 12, 2005, before the termination order was entered in this case on September 8, 2005. Therefore, the 2005
version of this statute governs this case and Ricky’s assertion that a dependentneglected adjudication is required by
§ 927341(b)(3)(B)(viii) is wrong. See Moore v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 333 Ark. 288, 969 S.W.2d 186 (1998)
(holding that the statute in effect at the time the termination order is entered is controlling).
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ROAF, J. 12
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