2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Karen Kaufman Salic, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (9 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their children, claiming the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited by the juvenile court, termination is not in the children’s best interests, and the court should apply a permissive exception to preclude termination.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm both appeals.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals from a dispositional order in a child-in-need-of-assistance proceeding.  She challenges the juvenile court’s denial of her motion to reopen the adjudicatory record to allow the child at issue to testify.  She also challenges the juvenile court’s decision to place custody of the child with the father and denial of her motion to change service providers.  OPINION HOLDS: The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to reopen the record.  Placing custody of the child with the father is in the child’s best interests.  There is no need to change service providers because the service provider is providing services and not hindering the reasonable-efforts mandate.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (10 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find there is clear and convincing evidence in the record to support termination of the mother’s parental rights, termination is in the children’s best interests, and no exceptions to termination should be applied.  And an extension of time is unwarranted under these facts.  We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Donna Bothwell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (10 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights.  He challenges the grounds for termination, argues termination is not in the children’s best interests, and requests the establishment of a guardianship or additional time to work toward reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child.  OPINION HOLDS: Because termination is in the best interests of the child, and additional time or application of a permissive exception are not warranted, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia S. Finley, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (11 pages)

            A mother appeals the district court order terminating her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find there is clear and convincing evidence in the record to support termination of the mother’s parental rights, termination is in the children’s best interests, and an exception to termination should not be applied.  An extension of time for reunification efforts is unwarranted on these facts.  We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Kristal L. Phillips, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (4 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the grounds for termination.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (9 pages)

            Korey and Javon appeal the termination of their parental rights to one-year-old L.J.  They both challenge the statutory grounds for termination and request a six-month extension of the proceedings.  Additionally, Javon contends the juvenile court should have placed L.J. with his mother, the paternal grandmother.  Javon also contends termination of his rights is not in L.J.’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: Neither parent can safely care for this medically complex child.  We find no merit in their challenges, so we affirm on both appeals. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (9 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child, arguing the grounds for termination have not been met, termination is not in the best interests of the child, and we should decline to terminate based on a permissive exception.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the statutory grounds for termination are satisfied, the best interests of the child support termination, and no exceptions to termination are applicable, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Joseph McCarville, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (9 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their child.  The mother claims the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited by the juvenile court and termination is not in the child’s best interests.  Both parents claim the State did not engage in reasonable efforts to reunite them with the child.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm on both appeals.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Michael Motto, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (10 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights, challenging whether the State made reasonable efforts towards reunification and whether sufficient evidence supports the statutory elements of termination.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Michael Motto, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (10 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their child.  The mother challenges the statutory grounds for termination, and the father asks us to decline to terminate based on a permissive exception.  OPINION HOLDS: Having found the statutory grounds satisfied and because we decline to exercise a permissive exception, we affirm termination of the mother’s and father’s parental rights.