Opinion letter to the Honorable J. R. Fritz

Honorable J , R, Fritz Prosecuting Attorney Pettis County Sedalia, Missouri Dear Jlr, Britz 2 Mar ch 23, 1965 Opinion No . 18 (1965) No . 337 (1964) Answered by Let ter .· FILE 0 I~ ~a opinion is in response to your request of September 25, 1964, regarding the f ollowings 11 • • • as to whether or not the Juvenile Div~sion of the Circuit Court under Chapter 211 or the Missouri Statutes would have Jurisdiction of a child under the age of' 17 years for the purpose or ordering the com- mitment of said child to the State School at Marshall, Missouri; upon a petition filed by the Juvenile Officer alleging that the said chil d is suffering from cerebral palsy causing a mental and physical defi- ciency to such an extent that the parents or said child cannot furnish for the child proper care and medical because or the in- creasing need on the part or said child for specialized care on account of said disease; even though the parents are doing their best to care for the chil d but at the same time the parents are not trained or equipped to furnish the special ized care that the child requires . " In a subsequent tel ephone conversation with you, you advised that the parents were in no way fighting this action by the Juvenile court and \'lere in tact seelcing the Juvenile court to obtain jur1.sdiction over their children. Your ques- tion calls tor two anm1ersa (1) Can a Juvenile court obtain Jurisdiction of a juvenile under the facts? (2) If the eourt has jurisdiction~ what can it at that time, do with that child? Honorable J. R. Fritz In the recent case ot In Re Linda, 362 SW2d, 782, a Kansas City Court or Appeals case, the court held that a juvenile court could obtain jurisdicti·on of a mentally disturbed child and if' it was in the best interests of the child, remove the child fl~m the control of the parents and send the juvenile to a state hospital. '!'he court cites Section 2ll.Ol.l, RSJIIo 1959, which describes the purpose of the juvenile act. Also, the court refers to Section 211.031, RSJio 1959, citing specifically Section 1, Subsection C of that statute: "Except as otherw1.se provided herein, the juvenile court shall have exclu.si ve orig~al jurisuiction in proceedings: "(1) Involving any child wl'D may be within the county who is alleged to be in need of care and treatment because: "(c) The behavior, environment or associations of the child are injurious to his welfare or to the welfare of others; * * * n .... - - It would thus seem that the court of appeals has held 211.031 to apply to mentally disturbed children. I am also enclosing attorney general's opinion to Addison M. Duval, Director of the Division of Mental Diseases, dated January 16, 1961, deal:tng with the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to commit a child to a state hospital under Section 211.201. We believe, since the child may be commdtted to the Division of Jlental Diseases for care and treatment and since the state school at Marshall 13 in that division, the eourt could order the child committed to that institution. As a practical matter, however;,~ by reasoning from the In Re Linda ease, the court tends to look at a case where the juvenile court has taken the child away from the parents in a very critical manner. Just the practical considerations of your case. where the parents are in agr.eeJUent with the removal of the child to the state school, makes this disposition much easier. The language or the statute is broad enough t·o authGrize the Juv1!nile court to take .Jurisdiction of this child based on the facts re·lated, and when the court has jurisdiction over the child it may then order the child committed to any state -2- Honorable J. R. Pritz school or state •ental hospital . Enclosure (1) Yours very truly, NORJIAR H. AlDERSON Attorney General