IN THE INTEREST OF L.V., Minor Child, M.J.V., Father, Appellant.
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 9-407 / 09-0645
Filed June 17, 2009
IN THE INTEREST OF L.V., Minor Child,
M.J.V., Father,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Jane Spande,
District Associate Judge.
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child.
AFFIRMED.
Troy Powell of Powell Law Firm, Cedar Rapids, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, David Thompson, County Attorney, and Lisa M. Epp, Assistant
County Attorney, for appellee.
Angela Railsback, Cedar Rapids, for mother.
Robert Davison, Cedar Rapids, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor
child.
Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Eisenhauer and Mansfield, JJ.
2
EISENHAUER, J.
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child. He
contends the State failed to prove the grounds for termination by clear and
convincing evidence. He also contends the State failed to provide reasonable
efforts to reunify him with his child and termination is not in the child’s best
interest. We review his claims de novo. In re N.V., 744 N.W.2d 634, 636 (Iowa
2008).
The district court terminated the father’s parental rights pursuant to Iowa
Code sections 232.116(1)(h) and (j) (2007).
We need only find termination
proper under one ground to affirm. In re R.R.K., 544 N.W.2d 274, 276 (Iowa Ct.
App. 1995).
The father argues the State failed to prove the grounds for
termination pursuant to section 232.116(1)(j). He does not dispute termination
was warranted under section 232.116(1)(h) and therefore has waived this issue
on appeal. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(1)(c).
We also conclude the father has failed to preserve error on the issue of
whether the State provided reasonable efforts to reunify him and the child. A
challenge to the sufficiency of such services should be raised when the services
are offered. In re L.M.W., 518 N.W.2d 804, 807 (Iowa Ct. App. 1994). The father
fails to state what services should have been offered and at no point requested
services beyond those offered to him.
Finally, we conclude termination is in the child’s best interest. Even if the
statutory requirements for termination of parental rights are met, the decision to
terminate must be in the children's best interests. In re M.S., 519 N.W.2d 398,
3
400 (Iowa 1994). In considering the best interests of the children, we look to
their long-range as well as immediate best interests. In re C.K., 558 N.W.2d 170,
172 (Iowa 1997). Here, the father has a history of violent, criminal conduct.
Some of this conduct was aimed at the child’s mother. The father is currently
serving a twenty-four-year prison sentence and blames the mother for his
situation. As the district court noted, “[The father] presents a very serious risk to
[the mother]’s physical and emotional well-being and, as a result of that risk,
presents a meaningful risk of harm to [the child]’s physical and emotional wellbeing.” The father fails to recognize the risk he presents to the child and has not
taken steps to adequately address these behaviors. Accordingly, we affirm the
district court order terminating his parental rights to his child.
AFFIRMED.
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.
