In re Kaela C.

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals considered whether a juvenile court could immediately adopt a master’s recommendations transferring custody and dismissing CINA petitions before expiration of the five-day period for filing exceptions. The court held that the appeal was not moot because the mother continued to suffer collateral consequences and that the circuit court erred by adopting the recommendations before the exceptions period expired.

Holdings

1. The appeal was not moot because the petitioner continued to suffer collateral consequences from the Maryland judgment transferring custody to the father, including the judgment's effect on subsequent California custody determinations.
2. A circuit court may not adopt a juvenile master’s findings, conclusions, recommendations, or proposed orders before expiration of the five-day period for filing exceptions under Maryland Rule 11-111(c).
3. The right to file exceptions during the five-day period is a protective component of due process because it provides the means for a litigant to obtain a prompt hearing before a duly qualified judge; the circuit court violated the petitioner's due process rights by adopting the master's recommendations before that period expired.
4. The circuit court could not rely on Maryland Rule 9-208(h)(2) to immediately adopt the master's recommendations because Title 9 of the Maryland Rules does not apply to actions in a juvenile court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal became moot after California assumed jurisdiction over the children's custody and visitation proceedings.
2. Whether the juvenile court erred by adopting the master's findings and recommendations before expiration of the five-day period for filing exceptions under Maryland Rule 11-111(c).
3. Whether adopting the master's recommendations before expiration of the exceptions period violated the petitioner's due process right to have the matter reviewed by a judge.
4. Whether the Court of Special Appeals' treatment of the immediate-implementation issue could properly be applied to the petitioner.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded