Joplin father, whose 2-year-old tested positive for meth, loses appeal of loss of parental rights, mother never appealed

In a decision handed down today, the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals rejected a Jasper County man's appeal of a decision stripping him of his parental rights after his 2-year-old child tested positive for methamphetamine.

The panel rejected the claim of M. P. G., the name used in the court file that he had not been issued a proper court summons before the bench trial in which he lost his parental rights. The claim was not made when it should have been, the decision said.

The court also stripped the child's mother of her parental rights, but the mother did not appeal the decision.

From the decision:

On March 9, 2021, the Juvenile Division of the Circuit Court of Jasper County (“juvenile court”) found Child to be without proper care, custody, and support after Child, being two years old at the time, tested positive for methamphetamine. 

The juvenile court ordered Child to remain in foster care, with the case goal being reunification of the family. As the Children’s Division (the “Division”) attempted to reunify the family, Father refused to work on a case plan or cooperate with the Division, and he further refused to take two separate drug tests in January and April of 2021. 

Father also reported that he was self-employed but provided no documentation of income, did not provide documentation of attending or completing a drug treatment program, and he had a pending felony charge for possession of a controlled substance. 

On April 11, 2022, the juvenile court issued a judgment modifying the case goal to termination of parental rights and adoption. B.L.M. and C.T.A.M. (collectively, “Adoptive Parents”) filed their petition to terminate Father’s parental rights over Child and to adopt Child on September 26, 2022.

The trial court appointed a special process server to serve Father with the Adoptive Parents’ petition, and a Juvenile Summons for Personal Service Outside the State of Missouri was issued for Father at an address in Baxter Springs, Kansas. 

The special process server served the summons on Father by
personal service at a Joplin, Missouri address on October 7, 2022, as evidenced by the returned summons.

The summons included the following notice: You have the right to have an attorney present to assist you at all court hearings, or you may waive your right to an attorney. If you do desire to be represented by an attorney, you should begin now to obtain legal counsel. If you cannot afford to pay an attorney and you wish to have an attorney to represent you, the court has the power to appoint an attorney to represent you, without charge. 

However, in the event the court does appoint a public defender or other appointed counsel for the juvenile, the court may, after notice and hearing, order the custodian to make reimbursement for all or part of the cost of representation of the juvenile. You should make known to the court your desire to have an attorney appointed for you. (Emphasis added). 

The termination of Father’s parental rights proceeded to a bench trial on June 27, 2023, where Father appeared in person and with appointed counsel. Father testified at trial, and, when his counsel asked whether he had ever been served in the case, he said, “I did get served I think through – well, I got served on the TPR.” 

After considering the evidence presented, the trial court issued its amended judgment terminating Father’s parental rights on August 1, 2023. The trial court terminated Father’s parental rights on the bases of abuse or neglect, failure to rectify harmful conditions, and parental unfitness under subdivisions (2), (3), and (5) of section 211.447.5, respectively; and it found termination of Father’s parental rights was in Child’s best interests. 

In its judgment, the trial court recounted the evidence of Father’s chemical dependency which prevented him from consistently providing the necessary care for Child, failure to provide Child with adequate care despite being physically and financially able to do so, and refusal to participate in services offered by the Division. 

It also noted Father was “served on October 7, 2022, by personal service at [a Joplin, MO address].” Neither Father nor Adoptive Parents filed a post-trial motion for a new trial following the trial court’s judgment, and Father’s timely appeal followed.