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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
child placement; procedural time limits
Purpose
Requires all parties, counsel and the court involved in child placement proceedings to adhere to procedural time limits established in statute. Establishes a 90-day timeframe within which termination adjudication hearings must occur if a party contests a parent-child relationship termination.
Background
If a petition for terminating the parent-child relationship is contested, the court is required to hold a termination adjudication hearing. The court findings with respect to grounds for termination must be based on clear and convincing evidence under applicable rules and adhering to the trial of civil causes (A.R.S. § 8-537).
Except as
provided in statute relating to child removal hearings and proceedings, the
court is required to set an initial dependency hearing within 21 days after a
petition is filed. At the initial dependency hearing, a parent or guardian is
required to provide outlined information for the court to locate persons who
are related to, or who have a significant relationship with the child
(A.R.S.
§ 8-842).
Any party to a dependency proceeding or a pending dependency proceeding may file a motion for permanent guardianship. The motion is required to be verified by the person who files the motion and requires certain information to be included in the motion, including name, sex, residence, date and place of birth of the child, in addition to the facts and circumstances supporting the grounds for permanent guardianship (A.R.S. § 8-872).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the State General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Requires all parties, counsel and the court to adhere to procedural time limits relating to child placement proceedings.
2. Prohibits the waiving, extending or continuing of procedural time limits for child placement unless it is necessary for the full, fair and proper presentation of evidence, except that a continuance of a procedural time limit may not be granted if the delay is not in the best interest of the child.
3. Prohibits a continuance of procedural time limits beyond 30 days if the delay is not in the best interest of the child, except on a finding of extraordinary circumstances such as acts or omissions that are unforeseen or unavoidable.
4. Requires a party requesting a continuance of more than 30 days to file a motion for an extension of time stating the extraordinary circumstances in writing.
5. Prohibits the courts from extending procedural time limits for a total period of more than 60 days unless the court makes a written finding that substantial evidence exists that additional time is in the best interest of the child.
6. Allows the court to impose sanctions on a party if the court determines the extension of procedural time limits was due to a party's disclosure violation or lack of due diligence.
7. Specifies that the court must hold a termination adjudication hearing within 90 days after an initial severance hearing.
8. Removes the ability for the court to continue an initial dependency hearing for good cause.
9. Removes the ability of a continued dependency hearing to be extended an additional 30 days on a finding of good cause or extraordinary circumstances.
10. Requires the court to hold the guardianship adjudication hearing within 90 days after the initial guardianship hearing.
11. Makes technical and conforming changes.
12. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendment Adopted by Committee
1. Removes the following exceptions that allow for child placement procedural time limits to be waived, extended or continued:
a) substantial evidence exists that extending the procedural time limits is in the best interest of the child;
b) evidence that is material to the case is unavailable, in which case the moving party must show that it has exercised due diligence to obtain the evidence and that there are substantial grounds to believe that the evidence will be available within 30 days;
c) the extension is necessary to preserve the constitutional rights of a party; or
d) additional time is necessary to prepare a case due to extraordinary circumstances, in which case a court finding of extraordinary circumstances must be set forth in writing and must state the factual basis for the extraordinary circumstances.
2. Allows an exception for waiving, extending and continuing child placement procedural time limits if it is necessary for the full, fair and proper presentation of evidence.
3. Prohibits the extension of procedural time limits if the delay is not in the best interest of the child.
4. Prohibits a continuance of procedural time limits beyond 30 days if the delay is not in the best interest of the child except on a finding of extraordinary circumstances such as acts or omissions that are unforeseen or unavoidable.
5. Requires a party requesting a continuance of more than 30 days to file a motion for an extension of time stating the extraordinary circumstances in writing.
6. Prohibits the courts from extending procedural time limits for a total period of more than 60 days unless the court makes a written finding that substantial evidence exists that additional time is in the best interest of the child.
7. Requires that a termination adjudication hearing be held 90 days after an initial severance hearing, rather than after a petition is served on all parties.
8. Reinserts the requirement for the dependency adjudication hearing to be completed within 90 days after the service of the dependency petition unless the court has ordered in-home intervention.
9. Requires the court to hold the guardianship adjudication hearing within 90 days after the initial guardianship hearing.
Senate Action
JUD 1/20/22 DPA 7-0-1
Prepared by Senate Research
January 24, 2022
ZD/HK/sr