MOORE (BRENDA L.) VS. CABINET FOR HEALTH AND FAMILY SERVICES , ET AL.
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RENDERED: JANUARY 7, 2011; 10:00 A.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2009-CA-000383-MR
BRENDA L. MOORE
v.
APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM JEFFERSON CIRCUIT COURT
HONORABLE CHARLES L. CUNNINGHAM JR., JUDGE
ACTION NO. 08-CI-010425
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY,
CABINET FOR HEALTH AND
FAMILY SERVICES; AND DEPARTMENT
FOR COMMUNITY BASED SERVICES
APPELLEES
OPINION
VACATING AND REMANDING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE: TAYLOR, CHIEF JUDGE; CLAYTON AND THOMPSON, JUDGES.
TAYLOR, CHIEF JUDGE: Brenda L. Moore asks us to review a February 3,
2009, Opinion and Order of the Jefferson Circuit Court upholding the Cabinet for
Health and Family Services’ (Cabinet) substantiation of child neglect and
placement of Moore’s name upon the Cabinet’s central registry under 922
Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR) 1:470. We vacate and remand.
Moore was custodian of L.G., her fourteen-year-old nephew, and
D.M., her four-year-old granddaughter. On July 12, 2007, Moore’s husband
reported that he observed L.G. sexually abusing D.M. Based upon this incident,
the Jefferson Family Court ordered that Moore would continue to exercise custody
of D.M. but that L.G. must “remain . . . out of Moore’s home.” The court
emphasized that “[t]here . . . [was] to be absolutely no contact of [D.M.] with
[L.G.].
After the abuse, L.G. was criminally charged for his actions. L.G.
was placed in the physical custody of a friend of Moore’s, Everett King, and was
placed on a home incarceration program. Later, on September 4, 2008, L.G. was
found incompetent to stand trial upon the abuse charge and was released from the
home incarceration program. Thereupon, King relinquished physical custody of
L.G. Moore resumed her physical custody of L.G. and took him to her home
where D.M. was also residing. One day later, on September 5, 2008, the Cabinet
obtained an Emergency Custody Order and removed D.M. from Moore’s custody.
As a consequence of Moore’s actions, the Cabinet alleged that Moore
placed D.M. at a risk of sexual abuse by L.G., thereby committing child neglect
under Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) 610.020(1). The Cabinet also sought to
place Moore on its central registry for individuals who have committed child abuse
or neglect. See 922 Kentucky Administrative Regulations (KAR) 1:470.
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Eventually, by final order, the Cabinet determined that child neglect had been
properly substantiated and that Moore’s name should be placed on the central
registry. Moore sought review of the Cabinet’s final order with the Jefferson
Circuit Court by filing a petition for judicial review on October 8, 2008. By
Opinion and Order entered February 3, 2009, the circuit court dismissed Moore’s
petition for review. This appeal follows.
Moore contends the circuit court erred by dismissing her petition for
review. A hearing on her petition was scheduled for December 23, 2008, by the
Jefferson Circuit Court. Moore who was proceeding pro se, alleges that a
representative of the court1 verbally informed Moore that the previously ordered
hearing date of December 23, 2008, was rescheduled to January 12, 2009. As a
consequence of this information, Moore did not appear on December 23, 2008, but
rather appeared on January 12, 2009. Unbeknownst to Moore, an order
rescheduling the hearing was never entered, and the hearing actually took place as
originally ordered on December 23. Moore alleges that she appeared on January
12 and was then informed that the hearing had been conducted on December 23,
2008.
In its brief, the Cabinet essentially confirms Moore’s statements of
events:
1
The record is not clear as to whether a representative from the circuit court clerk’s office or the
judge’s office informed Brenda L. Moore of the change in hearing date. The change in the
hearing date was necessitated due to the unavailability of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,
Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ attorney to attend the December 23 hearing date, which
he so acknowledges in the Cabinet’s Brief at 21.
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When undersigned counsel contacted the Division
Four secretary as directed, he was told that the Appellant
already had contacted the Court and a date had been set
for December 23, 2008, the order for which the
undersigned should be receiving shortly. Undersigned
counsel advised the secretary that he was unavailable on
December 23, 2008[,] and was then given a date of
January 12, 2009[,] and told that a new order would be
issued rescheduling the hearing for that date. However,
although Appellee’s undersigned counsel eventually
received the order scheduling the hearing date for
December 23, 2008, the undersigned never received an
order rescheduling a hearing for January 12, 2009.
Therefore, undersigned counsel asked a colleague,
Brenda Bourgeois, CHFS Assistant Counsel, to attend the
December 23, 2008[,] hearing for him, to which she
graciously agreed, and asked her to ascertain whether the
administrative hearing record had been forwarded to the
Court. Ms. Bourgeois attended the hearing and
subsequently advised undersigned counsel that the
Appellant had failed to appear at the hearing, that the
administrative hearing record had been received by the
Court, and that the Cabinet’s motion to dismiss had been
granted. There being no order for a hearing on January
12, 2009, nor any motion rescheduled for that date, and
having been advised that the action was dismissed,
undersigned counsel had no reason to appear before the
Jefferson Circuit Court, Division Four (4), on that date.
Cabinet’s Brief at 21-22.
It is uncontroverted that a court employee verbally informed each
party that the hearing date of December 23 was rescheduled to January 12. Moore
was proceeding pro se and relied upon this verbal representation. Consequently,
Moore did not appear at the December 23 hearing, and her petition was orally
dismissed by the circuit court at the December 23 hearing. The circuit court later
reduced its oral ruling to writing in its February 3, 2009, opinion and order.
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Although a court generally speaks only through its written orders, we
think that fundamental fairness mandates that Moore be given an opportunity to be
heard on her petition before the circuit court as well as be present on the Cabinet’s
motion to dismiss. See Midland Guardian Acceptance Corp. of Cincinnati, Ohio
v. Britt, 439 S.W.2d 313 (Ky. 1968); Com. v. Wilson, 280 Ky. 61, 132 S.W.2d 522
(1939). By so ruling, we express no opinion upon the ultimate merits of Moore’s
appeal. We merely give credence to the right of every party to receive a full, fair
and impartial review before any judicial tribunal in this Commonwealth.
Upon remand, the circuit court shall reconsider its dismissal and give
Moore an opportunity to be heard at a hearing before the court, upon written notice
to the parties.
We view Moore’s remaining arguments as moot since a hearing on
the merits of her petition and the Cabinet’s motion to dismiss has been ordered.
For the foregoing reasons, the Opinion and Order of the Jefferson
Circuit Court is vacated and remanded for proceedings consistent with this
opinion.
ALL CONCUR.
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BRIEF FOR APPELLANT:
Deborah Y. Payton
Louisville, Kentucky
BRIEF FOR APPELLEE
COMMONWEALTH OF
KENTUCKY, CABINET FOR
HEALTH AND FAMILY
SERVICES:
G. Thomas Mercer
Louisville, Kentucky
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