Assigned to JUD & FS                                                                                                                     FOR COMMITTEE

ARIZONA STATE SENATE

Forty-seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session

FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2559

juvenile hearings; jury trials

Purpose

            Continues the jury trial option for termination of parental rights (TPR) and allows a parent in Maricopa and Pima County to request a change of judge for a TPR proceeding under certain circumstances.  Prohibits another action for TPR from being brought within 12 months of a court decision not to terminate the parent’s rights. 

Background

            Any person or agency with a legitimate interest in the welfare of a child, including relatives, foster parents, the Department of Economic Security (DES), or a private child welfare agency may file a petition for TPR with the juvenile court.  Grounds for TPR include abuse or neglect, abandonment, inability to discharge parental responsibilities due to mental illness or chronic substance abuse, conviction of a felony proving the unfitness of that parent to have custody of a child, proof that the parent has had parental rights to another child terminated within the past two years for the same cause, or demonstration that the child has been in out-of-home placement for longer than nine months and the parent neglected or refused to remedy the problems.  The court must also consider the best interests of the child when considering grounds for TPR.

            An order terminating parental rights removes the parent and the child of all legal rights, privileges, duties and obligations with respect to each other, except the right of the child to inherit and receive support from the parent.  Rights of inheritance and support are only terminated by a final order of adoption.  If a petition for TPR is contested, the court holds a termination adjudication hearing to determine whether there is clear and convincing evidence of grounds for TPR.  Laws 2003, Second Special Session, Chapter 6 allowed a parent, guardian or custodian to request a jury trial for a TPR hearing.  The jury trial option sunsets on January 1, 2007. 

            Laws 2003, Second Special Session, Chapter 6 also enacted two versions of A.R.S. § 8-537 and A.R.S. § 8-863, which contain procedures for TPR hearings.  Version two of each of these statutes has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2007, and eliminates references to TPR by jury trial.  H.B. 2559 continues the jury trial option for TPR for three years and changes the delayed effective date for version two of each statute to January 1, 2010.

            There may be a fiscal impact to the juvenile courts associated with impaneling a jury and to DES associated with the additional cost of preparing for jury trials instead of bench trials.  This legislation requires parents requesting a jury trial to submit a jury bond of $500 to offset additional costs, but allows the court to waive the bond requirement for indigency or good cause.

Provisions

1. Continues the option for a parent, guardian or custodian to request a jury trial for TPR for three years, and sunsets the jury trial option on January 1, 2010.

2. Requires a parent, guardian or custodian who requests a jury trial for TPR to submit a jury bond of $500 to the court to offset additional costs associated with impaneling a jury, and allows the court to waive the jury bond requirement for indigency or good cause.

3. Allows a parent, guardian or custodian in Maricopa or Pima County to request a change of judge for a TPR proceeding, if the person did not request a jury trial and if the judge assigned to the case is the same judge that heard the dependency case for the child involved.

4. Prohibits the court from granting more than one request for a change of judge for TPR.

5. Requires the court to issue a TPR decision within 30 days after it holds a TPR hearing.

6. Prohibits another action for TPR from being brought within 12 months after the court issues a decision not to terminate the parent’s rights.

7. Changes the delayed effective date to January 1, 2010 for TPR statutes that remove references to the jury trial option.

8. Becomes effective on the general effective date.

House Action

HS                   2/2/06              DPA    5-1-1-1

JUD                 2/23/06            DPA    8-0-1-0

3^rd Read           3/15/06                        31-25-4

Prepared by Senate Research

March 23, 2006

KM/ac