People v. Jeremie G. (In Re L.W.)
People v. Jeremie G. (In Re L.W.)
Opinion
¶ 1 In the context of a juvenile neglect proceeding, respondent, Jeremie G., filed a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship (petition) over his minor child, L.W., so that respondent could establish that he was no longer dispositionally unfit as a parent. The State and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) opposed respondent's petition, and the guardian ad litem (GAL) for the minor child supported the petition. After a hearing, the trial court denied the petition. Respondent appeals. We affirm the trial court's judgment.
¶ 2 FACTS
¶ 3 Respondent and Sonja W. were the biological parents of the minor child, L.W., who was born in September 2007. In September 2009, the State filed a juvenile petition alleging that L.W. was a neglected minor due to an injurious environment. After hearings were held on the petition, the trial court found that L.W. was a neglected minor, made L.W. a ward of the court, found that respondent was dispositionally unfit as a parent, found that Sonja W. was dispositionally fit as a parent, and awarded guardianship of L.W. to DCFS. L.W.'s placement was kept with Sonja W.
¶ 4 At the first and second permanency review hearings in September 2010 and May 2011, at which respondent did not appear, the trial court found that respondent had not made reasonable efforts or progress due to a lack of interest and cooperation and that respondent was still unfit as a parent. At the conclusion of the May 2011 hearing, the trial court returned guardianship of the child to Sonja W., terminated wardship, and closed the case.
¶ 5 More than five years later, in December 2016, respondent filed a pro se petition to restore his fitness as a parent. The trial court appointed an attorney for respondent. In February 2017, respondent's attorney filed a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship (the petition at issue in the present case) pursuant to section 2-33(1) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Act) ( 705 ILCS 405/2-33(1) (West 2016) ), which provided, in pertinent part, that:
"(1) Any time prior to a minor's 18th birthday, pursuant to a supplemental petition filed under this Section, the court may reinstate wardship and open a previously closed case when:
(a) wardship and guardianship under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was vacated in conjunction with the appointment of a private guardian under the Probate Act of 1975;
(b) the minor is not presently a ward of the court under Article II of this Act nor is there a petition for adjudication of wardship pending on behalf of the minor; and
(c) it is in the minor's best interest that wardship be reinstated." 705 ILCS 405/2-33(1) (West 2016).
Respondent alleged in the petition that, after warship was terminated in the present case, he had completed several services and had put himself in a position to be found dispositionally fit as a parent. Respondent alleged further that he had maintained his relationship with L.W., he had continued to have regular supervised visits with L.W., and it was in L.W.'s best interest to reinstate wardship. Respondent also sought leave to file a motion for a finding of fitness, which respondent had attached to the petition, if the trial court granted respondent's petition to reinstate wardship.
¶ 6 The State filed a response, alleging that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to rule upon the petition because the facts in this particular case did not comply with the requirements of section 2-33(1)(a) of the Act. DCFS filed a motion to dismiss respondent's petition on that same basis. Respondent filed a memorandum of law in support of his petition.
¶ 7 In June 2017, a hearing was held on respondent's petition and the various responses. At the hearing, respondent argued in support of the petition and asked that the petition be granted. The State and DCFS opposed the petition, and the GAL joined respondent in support of the petition. Sonja W.'s attorney had not been able to make contact with Sonja W. and did not, therefore, take a position on the matter.
¶ 8 After listening to the arguments of the attorneys and taking the matter under advisement for a short period, the trial court denied respondent's petition. As a matter of statutory interpretation, the trial court found that all three conditions listed in section 2-33(1) of the Act had to be satisfied before a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship could be granted. The trial court concluded that the factual situation in the present case did not satisfy the requirements of section 2-33(1) because wardship and guardianship in the present case had not been vacated in conjunction
with the appointment of a private guardian under the Probate Act, which was listed as the first condition in the statute (see 705 ILCS 405/2-33(1)(a) (West 2016) ). In making that determination, the trial court relied upon the Second District Appellate Court's decision in
In re Tr. O.
,
¶ 9 ANALYSIS
¶ 10 On appeal, respondent argues that the trial court erred in interpreting section 2-33(1) of the Act and in denying his supplemental petition to reinstate wardship. Respondent asserts that the trial court's overly restrictive interpretation of the statute (1) is inconsistent with the Act as a whole, (2) is contrary to the Act's purpose to preserve and strengthen the minor's family ties whenever possible, (3) would render the statute useless, as an unfit parent would never be able to establish fitness or to obtain unsupervised visitation after wardship had been terminated, and (4) would lead to negative unintended consequences where courts would be reluctant to terminate wardship or to make findings of parental unfitness because such rulings would leave an unfit parent with no ability to establish fitness. Respondent contends instead that section 2-33(1) of the Act should be read so that the first condition listed in the statute serves as one basis upon which reinstatement of wardship may be granted and the second and third conditions listed in the statute, taken together, serve as a second basis upon which reinstatement may be granted (that the word "and," between subsections (b) and (c), should be read as only applying to those two subsections and that the word "or" should be read into the statute between subsections (a) and (b) ). In the alternative, respondent asserts that section 2-33(1) should be read so that each of the three conditions listed in the section is considered a separate basis upon which reinstatement of wardship may be granted (that the word "and," between subsections (b) and (c), should actually be read as "or"). Thus, respondent asserts that he was not required to satisfy the condition listed in subparagraph (a) of section 2-33(1) to obtain reinstatement of wardship as to L.W. In support of his assertion, respondent points to section 2-34 of the Act ( 705 ILCS 405/2-34 (West 2016) ), wherein the legislature specifically stated that all of the conditions listed in that particular statute had to be satisfied. Respondent contends that had the legislature wanted section 2-33 to be read in that manner, it would have used the same type of language that it had used in section 2-34. In making his assertions on this issue, respondent contends that the Tr. O. case, upon which the trial court relied, was incorrectly decided and should not be followed here. Respondent maintains that, unlike the appellate court's interpretation of the statute in Tr. O. , both of his two proposed interpretations of section 2-33(1) in the present case would be consistent with the Act and would provide a remedy for an unfit parent to seek a finding of fitness in the event that his juvenile case was closed, that he corrected the condition that led to the removal of the minor, and that he was capable of being found fit. For all of the reasons stated, respondent asks that we reverse the trial court's ruling and, presumably, that we remand this case for further proceedings.
¶ 11 The State argues first that this court lacks jurisdiction to hear this appeal and that this appeal should be dismissed. The State asserts that appellate jurisdiction is lacking because respondent did not file his
pro se
petition for fitness or a notice of appeal within 30 days after the trial court entered its final order in May 2011 terminating wardship and closing the case (see
In re C.S., Jr.
,
¶ 12 I. Appellate Jurisdiction
¶ 13 Before we address the merits of the parties' arguments on appeal, we must first address the State's contention that appellate jurisdiction is lacking in this case and that this appeal must be dismissed. Although it is well-settled that an appeal must be dismissed if appellate jurisdiction is lacking (see
Archer Daniels Midland Co. v. Barth
,
¶ 14 II. Interpretation of Section 2-33(1) of the Act
¶ 15 The interpretation of a statute is a question of law and is subject to
de novo
review on appeal.
In re M.M.
,
¶ 16 The statute at issue in the present case is section 2-33 of the Act, which, in pertinent part, provides as follows:
"§ 2-33. Supplemental petition to reinstate wardship.
(1) Any time prior to a minor's 18th birthday, pursuant to a supplemental petition filed under this Section, the court may reinstate wardship and open a previously closed case when:
(a) wardship and guardianship under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 was vacated in conjunction with the appointment of a private guardian under the Probate Act of 1975;
(b) the minor is not presently a ward of the court under Article II of this Act nor is there a petition for adjudication of wardship pending on behalf of the minor; and
(c) it is in the minor's best interest that wardship be reinstated.
(2) Any time prior to a minor's 21st birthday, pursuant to a supplemental petition filed under this Section, the court may reinstate wardship and open a previously closed case when:
(a) wardship and guardianship under this Act was vacated pursuant to:
(i) an order entered under subsection (2) of Section 2-31 in the case of a minor over the age of 18;
(ii) closure of a case under subsection (2) of Section 2-31 in the case of a minor under the age of 18 who has been partially or completely emancipated in accordance with the Emancipation of Minors Act; or
(iii) an order entered under subsection (3) of Section 2-31 based on the minor's attaining the age of 19 years;
(b) the minor is not presently a ward of the court under Article II of this Act nor is there a petition for adjudication of wardship pending on behalf of the minor; and
(c) it is in the minor's best interest that wardship be reinstated.
(3) The supplemental petition must be filed in the same proceeding in which the original adjudication order was entered." 705 ILCS 405/2-33 (West 2016).
¶ 17 In the
Tr. O.
case, the Second District Appellate Court found that the statutory language of section 2-33(1) of the Act was clear and that, as a matter of statutory interpretation, all three of the conditions listed in section 2-33(1) had to be satisfied before a supplemental petition to reinstate wardship could be granted.
Tr. O.
,
¶ 18 Although, as noted above, we do not agree with the Second District Appellate Court's statement in
Tr. O.
regarding jurisdiction as it relates to section 2-33(1), we do agree with the Second District's interpretation of the conditions portion of the statute. We find, therefore, as did the Second District Appellate Court in
Tr. O.
, that all three conditions listed in section 2-33(1) of the Act must be satisfied before a supplemental petition for reinstatement of wardship may be granted. See 705 ILCS 405/2-33(1) (West 2016);
Tr. O.
,
¶ 19 We are not persuaded to reach a different conclusion in this case based upon the proposed interpretations of section 2-33(1) that respondent suggests. Indeed, as our supreme court has pointed out, the use of the conjunctive "and" generally indicates that the legislature intended that all of the listed conditions or requirements in a statute be satisfied.
M.M.
,
¶ 20 CONCLUSION
¶ 21 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Tazewell County.
¶ 22 Affirmed.
Justice O'Brien concurred in the judgment and opinion.
Justice Schmidt specially concurred, with opinion.
¶ 23 JUSTICE SCHMIDT, specially concurring:
¶ 24 While I concur, I write separately to address respondent's contention that the procedure utilized in this case terminated his parental rights for all fundamental purposes. It did not. Pursuant to section 1-3(13) of the Act ( 705 ILCS 405/1-3(13) (West 2016)), respondent continues to have residual parental rights and responsibilities over L.W. As his parental rights were not terminated, nothing prevents him from seeking unsupervised visitation or custody by filing a petition for allocation of parental responsibilities under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. See 750 ILCS 5/601.2 (b) (West 2016).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.