YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that parents cannot appeal a custody decision based on a 90-day hearing rule.
The case surrounds a 2018 case from Butler County in which Children Services temporarily took custody of three children because the home was unsafe.
Both parents were present during the preliminary custody proceedings, but did not appeal the preliminary custody decision. They had 30 days to do this.
In February 2020, the agency requested permanent custody of the three children, and it was granted during an October 2020 hearing attended by both parents.
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On appeal, the parents stated that the 2018 custody order was void because a custody hearing was not held within the 90-day statutory time limit. The Court of Appeal agreed, overturning the juvenile court’s decision. The Children Services Agency appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court.
The question for the panel is whether the juvenile court’s custody order was void because the hearing did not take place within 90 days, therefore its decision is void. Has the court essentially lost its decision-making power because of the timeframe violation? The majority decision was that it was not.
A decision granting an agency preliminary custody is a final, contestable order, and an appeal must be filed within 30 days of the ruling,” the court said. “Since the mother and father failed to challenge the custody judgments in a timely manner, the judgments are valid and the current challenge is barred,” the court concluded.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick F. Fischer stated that at the time of the litigation, the law required a preliminary custody hearing to be held within 90 days. If the juvenile court missed the deadline, the court’s decision was void. Since it is void, a parent can appeal the court decision at any time, he wrote.
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