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2018 Georgia Code 15-11-102 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 15-11-102 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 15-11-102

TITLE 15 COURTS

Section 11. Juvenile Code, 15-11-1 through 15-11-747.

ARTICLE 3 DEPENDENCY PROCEEDINGS

15-11-102. Dependency case time limitations.

  1. A preliminary protective hearing shall be held promptly and no later than 72 hours after a child is placed in foster care, provided that, if the 72 hour time frame expires on a weekend or legal holiday, such hearing shall be held on the next day which is not a weekend or legal holiday.
  2. If a child was not taken into protective custody or is released from foster care at a preliminary protective hearing, the following time frames apply:
    1. A petition for dependency shall be filed within 30 days of the child's preliminary protective hearing;
    2. Summons shall be served at least 72 hours before the dependency adjudication hearing;
    3. The dependency adjudication hearing shall be held no later than 60 days after the filing of a petition for dependency; and
    4. If the child's dispositional hearing is not held in conjunction with the dependency adjudication hearing, it shall be held and completed within 30 days after the conclusion of the dependency adjudication hearing.
  3. If a child is not released from foster care at the preliminary protective hearing, the following time frames apply:
    1. A petition for dependency shall be filed within five days of the child's preliminary protective hearing;
    2. Summons shall be served at least 72 hours before the dependency adjudication hearing;
    3. The dependency adjudication hearing shall be held no later than ten days after the filing of a petition for dependency;
    4. DFCS shall submit to the court its written report within 30 days of the date a child who is placed in the custody of DFCS is removed from the home and at each subsequent review of the disposition order. If the DFCS report does not contain a plan for reunification services, a nonreunification hearing shall be held no later than 30 days from the time the report is filed; and
    5. If a dispositional hearing is not held in conjunction with the dependency adjudication hearing, it shall be held and completed within 30 days after the conclusion of the dependency adjudication hearing.
  4. An initial periodic review hearing shall be held within 75 days following a child's removal from his or her home. An additional periodic review shall be held within four months following such initial review.
  5. Permanency plan hearings shall be held no later than 30 days after DFCS has submitted a written report to the court which does not provide a plan for reunification services or:
    1. For children under seven years of age at the time a petition for dependency is filed, no later than nine months after such child is considered to have entered foster care, whichever comes first. Thereafter a permanency plan hearing shall be held every six months while such child continues in DFCS custody or more frequently as deemed necessary by the court until the court determines that such child's permanency plan and goal have been achieved; or
    2. For children seven years of age and older at the time a petition is filed, no later than 12 months after such child is considered to have entered foster care, whichever comes first. Thereafter a permanency plan hearing shall be held every six months while such child continues in DFCS custody or more frequently as deemed necessary by the court until the court determines that such child's permanency plan and goal have been achieved.
  6. A supplemental order of the court adopting a child's permanency plan shall be entered within 30 days after the court has determined that reunification efforts need not be made by DFCS.

(Code 1981, §15-11-102, enacted by Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, § 1-1/HB 242.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1933, §§ 24A-1404 and 24A-1701, pre-2014 Code Section 15-11-49, which were subsequently repealed but were succeeded by provisions in this article, are included in the annotations for this Code section. See the Editor's note at the beginning of the chapter.

Notice and hearing requirements were mandatory and must be adhered to in order for the juvenile court to proceed with the adjudicatory hearing. If for some reason the statutes were not, dismissal of the petition would be without prejudice. Sanchez v. Walker County Dep't of Family & Children Servs., 237 Ga. 406, 229 S.E.2d 66 (1976) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

Failure to comply with notice and hearing requirements of the Juvenile Code, after an allegedly deprived child has been taken from the parent's custody, prejudices or injures the rights of the parent, primarily the right to possession of the child under former Code 1933, §§ 74-106, 74-108, and 74-203 (see O.C.G.A. §§ 19-7-1,19-7-25, and19-9-2). Sanchez v. Walker County Dep't of Family & Children Servs., 237 Ga. 406, 229 S.E.2d 66 (1976) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

Failure to comply with time limits requires dismissal.

- Time limits established by the General Assembly in the Juvenile Code are jurisdictional and must be strictly adhered to. A failure to comply with the time periods set out in the statute requires dismissal. R.A.S. v. State, 156 Ga. App. 366, 274 S.E.2d 752 (1980), overruled on other grounds, In re R.D.F., 66 Ga. 294, 466 S.E.2d 572 (1996) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

Dismissal without prejudice for violating five day time limit.

- In dismissing a deprivation petition because the petition was filed outside of the five-day limit of former O.C.G.A. § 15-11-49(e), the trial court properly made the dismissal without prejudice. The Georgia Supreme Court had stated that in such a case any dismissal for failure to follow one of the procedural rules was without prejudice. In the Interest of E.C., 291 Ga. App. 440, 662 S.E.2d 252 (2008) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

Waiver of requirements of section.

- Although the procedural requirements in parental termination proceedings have been held to be mandatory, such requirements can be waived. Irvin v. Department of Human Resources, 159 Ga. App. 101, 282 S.E.2d 664 (1981) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

Definition of "day."

- Word "day," not being qualified, means a calendar or civil day consisting of 24 hours from midnight to midnight. J.B.H. v. State, 139 Ga. App. 199, 228 S.E.2d 189 (1976), overruled on other grounds, In re R.D.F., 266 Ga. 294, 466 S.E.2d 572 (1996) (decided under former Code 1933, § 24A-1404).

No results found for Georgia Code 15-11-102.