in Interest of R.J

Citations

• 2019 COA 109

Syllabus

The Mesa County Department of Human Services (the Department) filed a petition in dependency or neglect alleging that R.J., M.J., and A.J. (the children) lacked proper parental care and their environment was injurious to their welfare. After a three-day trial, the jury returned a special verdict finding the children dependent and neglected. A magistrate later entered dispositional orders as to both father and mother that continued out-of-home placement for the children and adopted treatment plans for both parents. Father asked for more time to file a petition for review of the magistrate's dispositional order with the district court. The district court granted the request, but no petition for review is in the record. Father subsequently filed a request with the Court of Appeals to file his notice of appeal of the adjudicatory order out of time. He observed that C.A.R. 3.4(b)(1) and CRS § 19-1-109(2)(c), read together, require a party to file a notice of appeal of an adjudicatory order and designation of transcripts within 21 days after entry of the dispositional order, but C.R.M. 7(a)(11) requires a party to seek district court review of a magistrate's dispositional order before seeking appellate review. Father asked the Court to resolve this uncertainty and decide whether it has jurisdiction to review an adjudicatory order when a magistrate later enters the dispositional order but no one seeks district court review of that order. Mother also filed a notice of appeal and asked that she be allowed to join father's briefs. The plain language of CRS § 19-1-109(2)(c) provides that an adjudicatory order is final and appealable after entry of the disposition, but the statute does not require that the dispositional order also be final. Nor does the statute require district court review of a dispositional order before a parent may appeal the adjudicatory order. Further, if no one asserts error, requiring the district court to review dispositional findings as a prerequisite