State law opens part of juvenile court system

Beginning in July, some changes in laws governing the protection of children will go into effect. Some of those changes will open up parts of the juvenile court, which has since its inception been closed to protect the children involved.

In the last legislative session, Missouri lawmakers approved legislation that changed large parts of the law governing foster care. House Bill 1453 became incorporated into the books as the "Dominic James Memorial Foster Care Reform Act of 2004."

Dominic James was a 2-year-old who died while in foster care in Springfield, Mo.

The law opened to the public hearings involving the termination of parental rights, but left juvenile judges with the discretion to close those proceedings if they believe there is good reason.

Cape Girardeau County juvenile officer Randy Rhodes and Matt Koetting, the attorney for the juvenile officer, agree that the law may improve child protection in other areas of the state, but will probably not have much impact in Cape Girardeau County.

Much of what the legislation calls for in protecting children has already been enacted locally in terms of either keeping a family together or removing a child from a bad situation either through guardianship or adoption. Both are skeptical about opening court proceedings for termination of parental rights.

In custody cases, local hearings before the parental termination hearing and family intervention services have been going on for several years because officers of the court agreed to try them to see which work, Rhodes said.

"The entire circuit has been doing a lot of things the law is asking us to do," Koetting said. "It was not required to have hearings, but we have been having them already. We're supposed to have a trial within 60 days of the hearing; we have ours within 30. We really get moving. We're looking for permanency for the child."

Koetting said that if a family cannot be held together for the child's safety and protection, then the court must decide on terminating the parents' rights, which the Missouri Supreme Court has said is the most serious right the court can take away from an individual. Koetting said he does not believe opening the court proceedings to the public at that stage will have much benefit, and he expects that attorneys for the parents will file petitions to close the hearings that were routinely closed until the law was passed.

A 'clean' courtroom

When the cases are closed, Koetting said, only the people directly involved with the child are present: the parents and their attorney, the juvenile officer, a representative from the Missouri Children's Division because it has custody of the child, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate who is there on behalf of the child and may act as a witness.

"We try to keep the courtroom as 'clean' as possible," Koetting said. "If there are too many people in there some may want to 'say their piece' when it is not appropriate. As far as opening the hearings, I don't know how that is going to make a difference."

Rhodes agrees with keeping cases closed for the child's protection.

"A lot of the time people make accusations that are found to be not true," he said.

Other aspects of juvenile court have also opened in recent years, although for the most part juvenile proceedings remain closed.

In the case of delinquent juveniles, the court proceedings are open for those who commit major felonies, Koetting said.

"We have very few," Koetting said. "It's usually a crime that's so serious, a class A or B felony, they've been in the system before and we've done everything that could be done for them, and the court is being asked to certify them as an adult."

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160