SECOND REGULAR SESSION
94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE BAKER (123).
Read 1st time February 5, 2008 and copies ordered printed.
D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 210.817, 211.021, 211.031, 211.038, 211.321, 211.393, 211.442, and 211.447, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eight new sections relating to termination of parental rights.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 210.817, 211.021, 211.031, 211.038, 211.321, 211.393, 211.442, and 211.447, RSMo, are repealed and eight new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 210.817, 211.021, 211.031, 211.038, 211.321, 211.393, 211.442, and 211.447, to read as follows:
210.817. As used in sections 210.817 to 210.852, the following terms mean:
(1) "Blood tests", any medically recognized analysis which uses blood or other body tissue or fluid to isolate and identify genetic or other characteristics in order to determine the probability of paternity or the probability of exclusion of paternity. The term specifically includes, without being limited to, tests employing red cell antigens, white cell antigens, including the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) test, DNA methodology, and serum proteins and enzymes;
(2) "Bureau", the bureau of vital records of the department of health and senior services;
(3) "Parent", [either a natural or an adoptive parent] a birth parent or parents of a child, including a putative father of the child, as well as the husband of a birth mother at the time the child was conceived, or a parent or parents of a child by adoption;
(4) "Parent and child relationship", the legal relationship existing between a child and his natural or adoptive parents incident to which the law confers or imposes rights, privileges, duties, and obligations. It includes the mother and child relationship and the father and child relationship.
211.021. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1) "Adult" means a person seventeen years of age or older;
(2) "Child" means a person under seventeen years of age;
(3) "Juvenile court" means the juvenile division or divisions of the circuit court of the county, or judges while hearing juvenile cases assigned to them;
(4) "Legal custody" means the right to the care, custody and control of a child and the duty to provide food, clothing, shelter, ordinary medical care, education, treatment and discipline of a child. Legal custody may be taken from a parent only by court action and if the legal custody is taken from a parent without termination of parental rights, the parent's duty to provide support continues even though the person having legal custody may provide the necessities of daily living;
(5) "Parent" means [either a natural parent or a parent by adoption and if the child is illegitimate, "parent" means the mother] a birth parent or parents of a child, including a putative father of the child, as well as the husband of a birth mother at the time the child was conceived, or a parent or parents of a child by adoption. The putative father of the child shall have no legal relationship unless he has acknowledged the child on his own by affirmatively asserting his paternity;
(6) "Shelter care" means the temporary care of juveniles in physically unrestricting facilities pending final court disposition. These facilities may include:
(a) "Foster home", the private home of foster parents providing twenty-four-hour care to one to three children unrelated to the foster parents by blood, marriage or adoption;
(b) "Group foster home", the private home of foster parents providing twenty-four-hour care to no more than six children unrelated to the foster parents by blood, marriage or adoption;
(c) "Group home", a child care facility which approximates a family setting, provides access to community activities and resources, and provides care to no more than twelve children.
211.031. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the juvenile court or the family court in circuits that have a family court as provided in sections 487.010 to 487.190, RSMo, shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in proceedings:
(1) Involving any child or person seventeen years of age who may be a resident of or found within the county and who is alleged to be in need of care and treatment because:
(a) The parents, or other persons legally responsible for the care and support of the child or person seventeen years of age, neglect or refuse to provide proper support, education which is required by law, medical, surgical or other care necessary for his or her well-being; except that reliance by a parent, guardian or custodian upon remedial treatment other than medical or surgical treatment for a child or person seventeen years of age shall not be construed as neglect when the treatment is recognized or permitted pursuant to the laws of this state;
(b) The child or person seventeen years of age is otherwise without proper care, custody or support; or
(c) The child or person seventeen years of age was living in a room, building or other structure at the time such dwelling was found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be a public nuisance pursuant to section 195.130, RSMo;
(d) The child or person seventeen years of age is a child in need of mental health services and the parent, guardian or custodian is unable to afford or access appropriate mental health treatment or care for the child;
(2) Involving any child who may be a resident of or found within the county and who is alleged to be in need of care and treatment because:
(a) The child while subject to compulsory school attendance is repeatedly and without justification absent from school; or
(b) The child disobeys the reasonable and lawful directions of his or her parents or other custodian and is beyond their control; or
(c) The child is habitually absent from his or her home without sufficient cause, permission, or justification; or
(d) The behavior or associations of the child are otherwise injurious to his or her welfare or to the welfare of others; or
(e) The child is charged with an offense not classified as criminal, or with an offense applicable only to children; except that, the juvenile court shall not have jurisdiction over any child fifteen and one-half years of age who is alleged to have violated a state or municipal traffic ordinance or regulation, the violation of which does not constitute a felony, or any child who is alleged to have violated a state or municipal ordinance or regulation prohibiting possession or use of any tobacco product;
(3) Involving any child who is alleged to have violated a state law or municipal ordinance, or any person who is alleged to have violated a state law or municipal ordinance prior to attaining the age of seventeen years, in which cases jurisdiction may be taken by the court of the circuit in which the child or person resides or may be found or in which the violation is alleged to have occurred; except that, the juvenile court shall not have jurisdiction over any child fifteen [and one-half] years of age who is alleged to have violated a state or municipal traffic ordinance or regulation, the violation of which does not constitute a felony, and except that the juvenile court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the municipal court over any child who is alleged to have violated a municipal curfew ordinance, and except that the juvenile court shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court on any child who is alleged to have violated a state or municipal ordinance or regulation prohibiting possession or use of any tobacco product;
(4) For the adoption of a person;
(5) For the commitment of a child or person seventeen years of age to the guardianship of the department of social services as provided by law.
2. Transfer of a matter, proceeding, jurisdiction or supervision for a child or person seventeen years of age who resides in a county of this state shall be made as follows:
(1) Prior to the filing of a petition and upon request of any party or at the discretion of the juvenile officer, the matter in the interest of a child or person seventeen years of age may be transferred by the juvenile officer, with the prior consent of the juvenile officer of the receiving court, to the county of the child's residence or the residence of the person seventeen years of age for future action;
(2) Upon the motion of any party or on its own motion prior to final disposition on the pending matter, the court in which a proceeding is commenced may transfer the proceeding of a child or person seventeen years of age to the court located in the county of the child's residence or the residence of the person seventeen years of age, or the county in which the offense pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of this section is alleged to have occurred for further action;
(3) Upon motion of any party or on its own motion, the court in which jurisdiction has been taken pursuant to subsection 1 of this section may at any time thereafter transfer jurisdiction of a child or person seventeen years of age to the court located in the county of the child's residence or the residence of the person seventeen years of age for further action with the prior consent of the receiving court;
(4) Upon motion of any party or upon its own motion at any time following a judgment of disposition or treatment pursuant to section 211.181, the court having jurisdiction of the cause may place the child or person seventeen years of age under the supervision of another juvenile court within or without the state pursuant to section 210.570, RSMo, with the consent of the receiving court;
(5) Upon motion of any child or person seventeen years of age or his or her parent, the court having jurisdiction shall grant one change of judge pursuant to Missouri Supreme Court Rules;
(6) Upon the transfer of any matter, proceeding, jurisdiction or supervision of a child or person seventeen years of age, certified copies of all legal and social documents and records pertaining to the case on file with the clerk of the transferring juvenile court shall accompany the transfer.
3. In any proceeding involving any child or person seventeen years of age taken into custody in a county other than the county of the child's residence or the residence of a person seventeen years of age, the juvenile court of the county of the child's residence or the residence of a person seventeen years of age shall be notified of such taking into custody within seventy-two hours.
4. When an investigation by a juvenile officer pursuant to this section reveals that the only basis for action involves an alleged violation of section 167.031, RSMo, involving a child who alleges to be home schooled, the juvenile officer shall contact a parent or parents of such child to verify that the child is being home schooled and not in violation of section 167.031, RSMo, before making a report of such a violation. Any report of a violation of section 167.031, RSMo, made by a juvenile officer regarding a child who is being home schooled shall be made to the prosecuting attorney of the county where the child legally resides.
211.038. 1. A child under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court shall not be reunited with a parent or placed in a home in which the parent or any person residing in the home has been found guilty of, or pled guilty to, any of the following offenses when a child was the victim:
(1) A felony violation of section 566.030, 566.032, 566.040, 566.060, 566.062, 566.064, 566.067, 566.068, 566.070, 566.083, 566.090, 566.100, 566.111, 566.151, 566.203, 566.206, 566.209, 566.212, or 566.215, RSMo;
(2) A violation of section 568.020, RSMo;
(3) A violation of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of section 568.060, RSMo;
(4) A violation of section 568.065, RSMo;
(5) A violation of section 568.080, RSMo;
(6) A violation of section 568.090, RSMo; [or]
(7) A violation of section 568.175, RSMo; or
(8) Any offense committed in another state which would constitute a violation under subdivisions (1) to (7) of this subsection.
2. For all other violations of offenses in chapters 566 and 568, RSMo, not specifically listed in subsection 1 of this section or for a violation of an offense committed in another state which would not constitute a violation under subdivisions (1) to (7) of subsection 1 of this section when a child is the victim that would be a violation of chapter 566 or 568, RSMo, if committed in Missouri, the juvenile court may exercise its discretion regarding the placement of a child under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in a home in which a parent or any person residing in the home has been found guilty of, or pled guilty to, any such offense.
3. If the juvenile court determines that a child has abused another child, such abusing child shall be prohibited from returning to or residing in any residence located within one thousand feet of the residence of the abused child, or any child care facility or school that the abused child attends, until the abused child reaches eighteen years of age. The prohibitions of this subsection shall not apply where the alleged abuse occurred between siblings or children living in the same home.
211.321. 1. Records of juvenile court proceedings as well as all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty for the court shall not be open to inspection or their contents disclosed, except by order of the court to persons having a legitimate interest therein, unless a petition or motion to modify is sustained which charges the child with an offense which, if committed by an adult, would be a class A felony under the criminal code of Missouri, or capital murder, first degree murder, or second degree murder or except as provided in subsection 2 of this section. In addition, whenever a report is required under section 557.026, RSMo, there shall also be included a complete list of certain violations of the juvenile code for which the defendant had been adjudicated a delinquent while a juvenile. This list shall be made available to the probation officer and shall be included in the presentence report. The violations to be included in the report are limited to the following: rape, sodomy, murder, kidnapping, robbery, arson, burglary or any acts involving the rendering or threat of serious bodily harm. The supreme court may promulgate rules to be followed by the juvenile courts in separating the records.
2. In all proceedings under subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of section 211.031, the records of the juvenile court as well as all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty for the court shall be kept confidential and shall be open to inspection only by order of the judge of the juvenile court or as otherwise provided by statute. In all proceedings under subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 211.031 the records of the juvenile court as well as all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty for the court shall be kept confidential and may be open to inspection without court order only as follows:
(1) The juvenile officer is authorized at any time:
(a) To provide information to or discuss matters concerning the child, the violation of law or the case with the victim, witnesses, officials at the child's school, law enforcement officials, prosecuting attorneys, any person or agency having or proposed to have legal or actual care, custody or control of the child, or any person or agency providing or proposed to provide treatment of the child. Information received pursuant to this paragraph shall not be released to the general public, but shall be released only to the persons or agencies listed in this paragraph;
(b) To make public information concerning the offense, the substance of the petition, the status of proceedings in the juvenile court and any other information which does not specifically identify the child or the child's family;
(2) After a child has been adjudicated delinquent pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection 1 of section 211.031, for an offense which would be a felony if committed by an adult, the records of the dispositional hearing and proceedings related thereto shall be open to the public to the same extent that records of criminal proceedings are open to the public. However, the social summaries, investigations or updates in the nature of presentence investigations, and status reports submitted to the court by any treating agency or individual after the dispositional order is entered shall be kept confidential and shall be opened to inspection only by order of the judge of the juvenile court;
(3) As otherwise provided by statute;
(4) In all other instances, only by order of the judge of the juvenile court.
3. Peace officers' records, if any are kept, of children shall be kept separate from the records of persons seventeen years of age or over and shall not be open to inspection or their contents disclosed, except by order of the court. This subsection does not apply to children who are transferred to courts of general jurisdiction as provided by section 211.071 or to juveniles convicted under the provisions of sections 578.421 to 578.437, RSMo. This subsection does not prohibit a peace officer of this state, upon written request by another peace officer of this state or any other state, the federal government, or a prosecuting attorney of this state or any other state, from disclosing or permitting inspection of records, information, or reports concerning a person less than seventeen years of age for purposes of investigation of a matter within his or her jurisdiction. This subsection does not apply to the inspection or disclosure of the contents of the records of peace officers for the purpose of pursuing a civil forfeiture action pursuant to the provisions of section 195.140, RSMo.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the release of information and data to persons or organizations authorized by law to compile statistics relating to juveniles. The court shall adopt procedures to protect the confidentiality of children's names and identities.
5. The court may, either on its own motion or upon application by the child or his representative, or upon application by the juvenile officer, enter an order to destroy all social histories, records, and information, other than the official court file, and may enter an order to seal the official court file, as well as all peace officers' records, at any time after the child has reached his seventeenth birthday if the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child that such action or any part thereof be taken, unless the jurisdiction of the court is continued beyond the child's seventeenth birthday, in which event such action or any part thereof may be taken by the court at any time after the closing of the child's case.
6. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the release of general information regarding the informal adjustment or formal adjudication of the disposition of a child's case to a victim or a member of the immediate family of a victim of any offense committed by the child. Such general information shall not be specific as to location and duration of treatment or detention or as to any terms of supervision.
7. Records of juvenile court proceedings as well as all information obtained and social records prepared in the discharge of official duty for the court shall be disclosed to the child fatality review panel reviewing the child's death pursuant to section 210.192, RSMo, unless the juvenile court on its own motion, or upon application by the juvenile officer, enters an order to seal the records of the victim child.
211.393. 1. For purposes of this section, the following words and phrases mean:
(1) "County retirement plan", any public employees' defined benefit retirement plan established by law that provides retirement benefits to county or city employees, but not to include the county employees' retirement system as provided in sections 50.1000 to 50.1200, RSMo;
(2) "Juvenile court employee", any person who is employed by a juvenile court in a position normally requiring one thousand hours or more of service per year;
(3) "Juvenile officer", any juvenile officer appointed pursuant to section 211.351;
(4) "Multicounty circuit", all other judicial circuits not included in the definition of a single county circuit;
(5) "Single county circuit", a judicial circuit composed of a single county of the first classification, including the circuit for the city of St. Louis;
(6) "State retirement plan", the public employees' retirement plan administered by the Missouri state employees' retirement system pursuant to chapter 104, RSMo.
2. Juvenile court employees employed in a single county circuit shall be subject to the following provisions:
(1) The juvenile officer employed in such circuits on and prior to July 1, 1999, shall:
(a) Be state employees on that portion of their salary received from the state pursuant to section 211.381, and in addition be county employees on that portion of their salary provided by the county at a rate determined pursuant to section 50.640, RSMo;
(b) Receive state-provided benefits, including retirement benefits from the state retirement plan, on that portion of their salary paid by the state and may participate as members in a county retirement plan on that portion of their salary provided by the county except any juvenile officer whose service as a juvenile court officer is being credited based on all salary received from any source in a county retirement plan on June 30, 1999, shall not be eligible to receive state-provided benefits, including retirement benefits, or any creditable prior service as described in this section but shall continue to participate in such county retirement plan;
(c) Receive creditable prior service in the state retirement plan for service rendered as a juvenile court employee prior to July 1, 1999, to the extent they have not already received credit for such service in a county retirement plan on salary paid to them for such service, if such service was rendered in a single county circuit or a multicounty circuit; except that if the juvenile officer forfeited such credit in such county retirement plan prior to being eligible to receive creditable prior service under this paragraph, they may receive service under this paragraph;
(d) Receive creditable prior service pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision even though they already have received credit for such creditable service in a county retirement plan if they elect to forfeit their creditable service from such plan in which case such plan shall transfer to the state retirement plan an amount equal to the actuarial accrued liability for the forfeited creditable service, determined as if the person were going to continue to be an active member of the county retirement plan, less the amount of any refunds of member contributions;
(e) Receive creditable prior service for service rendered as a juvenile court employee in a multicounty circuit in a position that was financed in whole or in part by a public or private grant, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (e) of subdivision (1) of subsection 3 of this section;
(2) Juvenile officers who begin employment for the first time as a juvenile officer in a single county circuit on or after July 1, 1999, shall:
(a) Be county employees and receive salary from the county at a rate determined pursuant to section 50.640, RSMo, subject to reimbursement by the state as provided in section 211.381; and
(b) Participate as members in the applicable county retirement plan subject to reimbursement by the state for the retirement contribution due on that portion of salary reimbursed by the state;
(3) All other juvenile court employees who are employed in a single county circuit on or after July 1, 1999:
(a) Shall be county employees and receive a salary from the county at a rate determined pursuant to section 50.640, RSMo; and
(b) Shall, in accordance with their status as county employees, receive other county-provided benefits including retirement benefits from the applicable county retirement plan if such employees otherwise meet the eligibility requirements for such benefits;
(4) (a) The state shall reimburse each county comprised of a single county circuit for an amount equal to the greater of:
a. Twenty-five percent of such circuit's total juvenile court personnel budget, excluding the salary for a juvenile officer, for calendar year 1997, and excluding all costs of retirement, health and other fringe benefits; or
b. The sum of the salaries of one chief deputy juvenile officer and one deputy juvenile officer class I, as provided in section 211.381;
(b) The state may reimburse a single county circuit up to fifty percent of such circuit's total calendar year 1997 juvenile court personnel budget, subject to appropriations. The state may reimburse, subject to appropriations, the following percentages of such circuits' total juvenile court personnel budget, expended for calendar year 1997, excluding the salary for a juvenile officer, and excluding all costs of retirement, health and other fringe benefits: thirty percent beginning July 1, 2000, until June 30, 2001; forty percent beginning July 1, 2001, until June 30, 2002; fifty percent beginning July 1, 2002; however, no county shall receive any reimbursement from the state in an amount less than the greater of:
a. Twenty-five percent of the total juvenile court personnel budget of the single county circuit expended for calendar year 1997, excluding fringe benefits; or
b. The sum of the salaries of one chief deputy juvenile officer and one deputy juvenile officer class I, as provided in section 211.381;
(5) Each single county circuit shall file a copy of its initial 1997 and each succeeding year's budget with the office of the state courts administrator after January first each year and prior to reimbursement. The office of the state courts administrator shall make payment for the reimbursement from appropriations made for that purpose on or before July fifteenth of each year following the calendar year in which the expenses were made. The office of the state courts administrator shall submit the information from the budgets relating to full-time juvenile court personnel from each county to the general assembly;
(6) Any single county circuit may apply to the office of the state courts administrator to become subject to subsection 3 of this section, and such application shall be approved subject to appropriation of funds for that purpose;
(7) The state auditor may audit any single county circuit to verify compliance with the requirements of this section, including an audit of the 1997 budget.
3. Juvenile court employees in multicounty circuits shall be subject to the following provisions:
(1) Juvenile court employees including detention personnel hired in 1998 in those multicounty circuits who began actual construction on detention facilities in 1996, employed in a multicounty circuit on or after July 1, 1999, shall:
(a) Not be state employees unless they receive all salary from the state, which shall include any salary as provided in section 211.381 in addition to any salary provided by the applicable county or counties during calendar year 1997 and any general salary increase approved by the state of Missouri for fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 2000;
(b) Participate in the state retirement plan;
(c) Receive creditable prior service in the state retirement plan for service rendered as a juvenile court employee prior to July 1, 1999, to the extent they have not already received credit for such service in a county retirement plan on salary paid to them for such service if such service was rendered in a single county circuit or a multicounty circuit, except that if they forfeited such credit in such county retirement plan prior to being eligible to receive creditable prior service under this paragraph, they may receive creditable service under this paragraph;
(d) Receive creditable prior service pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdivision even though they already have received credit for such creditable service in a county retirement plan if they elect within six months from the date they become participants in the state retirement plan pursuant to this section to forfeit their service from such plan in which case such plan shall transfer to the state retirement plan an amount equal to the actuarial accrued liability for the forfeited creditable service, determined as if the person was going to continue to be an active member of the county retirement plan, less the amount of any refunds of member contributions;
(e) Receive creditable prior service for service rendered as a juvenile court employee in a multicounty circuit in a position that was financed in whole or in part by a public or private grant to the extent they have not already received credit for such service in a county retirement plan on salary paid to them for such service except that if they:
a. Forfeited such credit in such county retirement plan prior to being eligible to receive creditable service under this paragraph, they may receive creditable service under paragraph (e) of this subdivision;
b. Received credit for such creditable service in a county retirement plan, they may not receive creditable prior service pursuant to paragraph (e) of this subdivision unless they elect to forfeit their service from such plan, in which case such plan shall transfer to the state retirement plan an amount equal to the actuarial liability for the forfeited creditable service, determined as if the person was going to continue to be an active member of the county retirement plan, less the amount of any refunds of member contributions;
c. Terminated employment prior to August 28, 2007, and apply to the board of trustees of the state retirement plan to be made and employed as a special consultant and be available to give opinions regarding retirement they may receive creditable service under paragraph (e) of this subdivision;
d. Retired prior to August 28, 2007, and apply to the board of trustees of the state retirement plan to be made and employed as a special consultant and be available to give opinions regarding retirement, they shall have their retirement benefits adjusted so they receive retirement benefits equal to the amount they would have received had their retirement benefit been initially calculated to include such creditable prior service; or
e. Purchased creditable prior service pursuant to section 104.344, RSMo, or section 105.691, RSMo, based on service as a juvenile court employee in a position that was financed in whole or in part by a public or private grant, they shall receive a refund based on the amount paid for such purchased service;
(2) Juvenile court employee positions added after December 31, 1997, shall be terminated and not subject to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, unless the office of the state courts administrator requests and receives an appropriation specifically for such positions;
(3) The salary of any juvenile court employee who becomes a state employee, effective July 1, 1999, shall be limited to the salary provided by the state of Missouri, which shall be set in accordance with guidelines established by the state pursuant to a salary survey conducted by the office of the state courts administrator, but such salary shall in no event be less than the amount specified in paragraph (a) of subdivision (1) of this subsection. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in subsection 1 of section 211.394, such employees shall not be entitled to additional compensation paid by a county as a public officer or employee. Such employees shall be considered employees of the judicial branch of state government for all purposes;
(4) All other employees of a multicounty circuit who are not juvenile court employees as defined in subsection 1 of this section shall be county employees subject to the county's own terms and conditions of employment.
4. The receipt of creditable prior service as described in paragraph (c) of subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section and paragraph (c) of subdivision (1) of subsection 3 of this section is contingent upon the office of the state courts administrator providing the state retirement plan information, in a form subject to verification and acceptable to the state retirement plan, indicating the dates of service and amount of monthly salary paid to each juvenile court employee for such creditable prior service.
5. No juvenile court employee employed by any single or multicounty circuit shall be eligible to participate in the county employees' retirement system fund pursuant to sections 50.1000 to 50.1200, RSMo.
6. Each county in every circuit in which a juvenile court employee becomes a state employee shall maintain each year in the local juvenile court budget an amount, defined as "maintenance of effort funding", not less than the total amount budgeted for all employees of the juvenile court including any juvenile officer, deputy juvenile officer, or other juvenile court employees in calendar year [1997] 2007, minus the state reimbursements as described in this section received for the calendar year [1997] 2007 personnel costs for the salaries of all such juvenile court employees who become state employees. The juvenile court shall provide a proposed budget to the county commission each year. The budget shall contain a separate section specifying all funds to be expended in the juvenile court. Such funding may be used for contractual costs for detention services, guardians ad litem, transportation costs for those circuits without detention facilities to transport children to and from detention and hearings, short-term residential services, indebtedness for juvenile facilities, expanding existing detention facilities or services, continuation of services funded by public grants or subsidy, and enhancing the court's ability to provide prevention, probation, counseling and treatment services. The county commission may review such budget and may appeal the proposed budget to the judicial finance commission pursuant to section 50.640, RSMo.
7. Any person who is employed on or after July 1, 1999, in a position covered by the state retirement plan or the [transportation] Missouri department of transportation and highway patrol employees' retirement system and who has rendered service as a juvenile court employee in a judicial circuit that was not a single county of the first classification shall be eligible to receive creditable prior service in such plan or system as provided in subsections 2 and 3 of this section. For purposes of this subsection, the provisions of paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision (1) of subsection 2 of this section and paragraphs (c) and (d) of subdivision (1) of subsection 3 of this section that apply to the state retirement plan shall also apply to the transportation department and highway patrol retirement system.
8. (1) Any juvenile officer who is employed as a state employee in a multicounty circuit on or after July 1, 1999, shall not be eligible to participate in the state retirement plan as provided by this section unless such juvenile officer elects to:
(a) Receive retirement benefits from the state retirement plan based on all years of service as a juvenile officer and a final average salary which shall include salary paid by the county and the state; and
(b) Forfeit any county retirement benefits from any county retirement plan based on service rendered as a juvenile officer.
(2) Upon making the election described in this subsection, the county retirement plan shall transfer to the state retirement plan an amount equal to the actuarial accrued liability for the forfeited creditable service determined as if the person was going to continue to be an active member of the county retirement plan, less the amount of any refunds of member contributions. 9. The elections described in this section shall be made on forms developed and made available by the state retirement plan.
211.442. As used in sections 211.442 to 211.487, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Child", an individual under eighteen years of age;
(2) "Minor", any person who has not attained the age of eighteen years;
(3) "Parent", a [biological] birth parent or parents of a child, including a putative father of the child, as well as, the husband of a [natural] birth mother at the time the child was conceived, or a parent or parents of a child by adoption[, including both the mother and the putative father of a child]. The putative father of a child shall have no legal relationship unless he[, prior to the entry of a decree under sections 211.442 to 211.487,] has acknowledged the child as his own by affirmatively asserting his paternity.
211.447. 1. Any information that could justify the filing of a petition to terminate parental rights may be referred to the juvenile officer by any person. The juvenile officer shall make a preliminary inquiry and if it does not appear to the juvenile officer that a petition should be filed, such officer shall so notify the informant in writing within thirty days of the referral. Such notification shall include the reasons that the petition will not be filed. Thereupon, the informant may bring the matter directly to the attention of the judge of the juvenile court by presenting the information in writing, and if it appears to the judge that the information could justify the filing of a petition, the judge may order the juvenile officer to take further action, including making a further preliminary inquiry or filing a petition.
2. Except as provided for in subsection 4 of this section, a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parent or parents shall be filed by the juvenile officer or the division, or if such a petition has been filed by another party, the juvenile officer or the division shall seek to be joined as a party to the petition, when one or more of the following grounds for termination exist:
(1) Information available to the juvenile officer or the division establishes that the child has been in foster care for at least fifteen of the most recent twenty-two months; or
(2) A court of competent jurisdiction has determined the child to be an abandoned infant. For purposes of this subdivision, an "infant" means any child one year of age or under at the time of filing of the petition. The court may find that an infant has been abandoned if:
(a) The parent has left the child under circumstances that the identity of the child was unknown and could not be ascertained, despite diligent searching, and the parent has not come forward to claim the child; or
(b) The parent has, without good cause, left the child without any provision for parental support and without making arrangements to visit or communicate with the child, although able to do so; or
(3) A court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the parent has:
(a) Committed murder of another child of the parent; or
(b) Committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent; or
(c) Aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; [or]
(d) Committed a felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent; or
(e) The parent has been found guilty or pled guilty to a felony violation of chapter 566, RSMo, when the child or any child in the family was a victim, or a violation of section 568.020, RSMo, when the child or any child in the family was a victim. As used in this paragraph, "child" means any person less than eighteen years of age at the time of the crime and who resided with such parent or was related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity to such parent; or
(4) A court of competent jurisdiction has determined that a child shall not be reunited with a parent or placed in a home of a parent under section 211.038.
3. A termination of parental rights petition shall be filed by the juvenile officer or the division, or if such a petition has been filed by another party, the juvenile officer or the division shall seek to be joined as a party to the petition, within sixty days of the judicial determinations required in subsection 2 of this section, except as provided in subsection 4 of this section. Failure to comply with this requirement shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction to adjudicate a petition for termination of parental rights which is filed outside of sixty days.
4. If grounds exist for termination of parental rights pursuant to subsection 2 of this section, the juvenile officer or the division may, but is not required to, file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parent or parents if:
(1) The child is being cared for by a relative; or
(2) There exists a compelling reason for determining that filing such a petition would not be in the best interest of the child, as documented in the permanency plan which shall be made available for court review; or
(3) The family of the child has not been provided such services as provided for in section 211.183.
5. The juvenile officer or the division may file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parent when it appears that one or more of the following grounds for termination exist:
(1) The child has been abandoned. For purposes of this subdivision a "child" means any child over one year of age at the time of filing of the petition. The court shall find that the child has been abandoned if, for a period of six months or longer:
(a) The parent has left the child under such circumstances that the identity of the child was unknown and could not be ascertained, despite diligent searching, and the parent has not come forward to claim the child; or
(b) The parent has, without good cause, left the child without any provision for parental support and without making arrangements to visit or communicate with the child, although able to do so;
(2) The child has been abused or neglected. In determining whether to terminate parental rights pursuant to this subdivision, the court shall consider and make findings on the following conditions or acts of the parent:
(a) A mental condition which is shown by competent evidence either to be permanent or such that there is no reasonable likelihood that the condition can be reversed and which renders the parent unable to knowingly provide the child the necessary care, custody and control;
(b) Chemical dependency which prevents the parent from consistently providing the necessary care, custody and control of the child and which cannot be treated so as to enable the parent to consistently provide such care, custody and control;
(c) A severe act or recurrent acts of physical, emotional or sexual abuse toward the child or any child in the family by the parent, including an act of incest, or by another under circumstances that indicate that the parent knew or should have known that such acts were being committed toward the child or any child in the family; or
(d) Repeated or continuous failure by the parent, although physically or financially able, to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or education as defined by law, or other care and control necessary for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health and development;
(3) The child has been under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for a period of one year, and the court finds that the conditions which led to the assumption of jurisdiction still persist, or conditions of a potentially harmful nature continue to exist, that there is little likelihood that those conditions will be remedied at an early date so that the child can be returned to the parent in the near future, or the continuation of the parent-child relationship greatly diminishes the child's prospects for early integration into a stable and permanent home. In determining whether to terminate parental rights under this subdivision, the court shall consider and make findings on the following:
(a) The terms of a social service plan entered into by the parent and the division and the extent to which the parties have made progress in complying with those terms;
(b) The success or failure of the efforts of the juvenile officer, the division or other agency to aid the parent on a continuing basis in adjusting his circumstances or conduct to provide a proper home for the child;
(c) A mental condition which is shown by competent evidence either to be permanent or such that there is no reasonable likelihood that the condition can be reversed and which renders the parent unable to knowingly provide the child the necessary care, custody and control;
(d) Chemical dependency which prevents the parent from consistently providing the necessary care, custody and control over the child and which cannot be treated so as to enable the parent to consistently provide such care, custody and control; or
(4) [The parent has been found guilty or pled guilty to a felony violation of chapter 566, RSMo, when the child or any child in the family was a victim, or a violation of section 568.020, RSMo, when the child or any child in the family was a victim. As used in this subdivision, a "child" means any person who was under eighteen years of age at the time of the crime and who resided with such parent or was related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity to such parent; or
(5)] The child was conceived and born as a result of an act of forcible rape. When the biological father has pled guilty to, or is convicted of, the forcible rape of the birth mother, such a plea or conviction shall be conclusive evidence supporting the termination of the biological father's parental rights; or
[(6)] (5) The parent is unfit to be a party to the parent and child relationship because of a consistent pattern of committing a specific abuse, including but not limited to, abuses as defined in section 455.010, RSMo, child abuse or drug abuse before the child or of specific conditions directly relating to the parent and child relationship either of which are determined by the court to be of a duration or nature that renders the parent unable, for the reasonably foreseeable future, to care appropriately for the ongoing physical, mental or emotional needs of the child. It is presumed that a parent is unfit to be a party to the parent-child relationship upon a showing that within a three-year period immediately prior to the termination adjudication, the parent's parental rights to one or more other children were involuntarily terminated pursuant to subsection 2 or 4 of this section or [subdivisions] subdivision (1), (2), or (3) [or (4)] of this subsection [5 of this section] or similar laws of other states.
6. The juvenile court may terminate the rights of a parent to a child upon a petition filed by the juvenile officer or the division, or in adoption cases, by a prospective parent, if the court finds that the termination is in the best interest of the child and when it appears by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that grounds exist for termination pursuant to subsection 2, 4 or 5 of this section.
7. When considering whether to terminate the parent-child relationship pursuant to subsection 2 or 4 of this section or subdivision (1), (2), or (3) [or (4)] of subsection 5 of this section, the court shall evaluate and make findings on the following factors, when appropriate and applicable to the case:
(1) The emotional ties to the birth parent;
(2) The extent to which the parent has maintained regular visitation or other contact with the child;
(3) The extent of payment by the parent for the cost of care and maintenance of the child when financially able to do so including the time that the child is in the custody of the division or other child-placing agency;
(4) Whether additional services would be likely to bring about lasting parental adjustment enabling a return of the child to the parent within an ascertainable period of time;
(5) The parent's disinterest in or lack of commitment to the child;
(6) The conviction of the parent of a felony offense that the court finds is of such a nature that the child will be deprived of a stable home for a period of years; provided, however, that incarceration in and of itself shall not be grounds for termination of parental rights;
(7) Deliberate acts of the parent or acts of another of which the parent knew or should have known that subjects the child to a substantial risk of physical or mental harm.
8. The court may attach little or no weight to infrequent visitations, communications, or contributions. It is irrelevant in a termination proceeding that the maintenance of the parent-child relationship may serve as an inducement for the parent's rehabilitation.
9. In actions for adoption pursuant to chapter 453, RSMo, the court may hear and determine the issues raised in a petition for adoption containing a prayer for termination of parental rights filed with the same effect as a petition permitted pursuant to subsection 2, 4, or 5 of this section.
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