Arizona Laws 8-844. Dependency adjudication hearing; settlement conference or mediation
A. Before a contested dependency case proceeds to adjudication, the court shall hold a settlement conference or pretrial conference or shall order mediation. All of the parties in the contested action shall participate in the conference or mediation.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 8-844
- Abuse: means the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behavior and which emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and is caused by the acts or omissions of an individual who has the care, custody and control of a child. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Petition: means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Pretrial conference: A meeting of the judge and lawyers to discuss which matters should be presented to the jury, to review evidence and witnesses, to set a timetable, and to discuss the settlement of the case.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
B. The court shall take into consideration as a mitigating factor the availability of reasonable services to the parent or guardian to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child and the effort of the parent or guardian to obtain and participate in these services.
C. If, at the dependency adjudication hearing, the court:
1. Finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the allegations contained in the petition are true, the court shall:
(a) Make the following findings as to each parent:
(i) That the court has jurisdiction over the subject matter and the person before the court.
(ii) The factual basis for the dependency.
(iii) That the child is dependent.
(b) Conduct a disposition hearing.
2. Does not find by a preponderance of the evidence that the allegations contained in the petition are true, the court shall dismiss the petition.
D. The court may adjudicate a child dependent as to one parent or guardian and proceed with a disposition, review or permanency hearing or any other hearing as to that particular parent or guardian notwithstanding another parent’s or guardian’s request to contest the allegations in the petition or that another parent or guardian has not been served.
E. The court may hold the disposition hearing on the same date as the dependency adjudication hearing or at a later date that is not more than thirty days after the date of the dependency adjudication hearing.
F. If a parent does not appear at the pretrial conference, settlement conference or dependency adjudication hearing, the court, after determining that the parent has been instructed as provided in section 8-826, may find that the parent has waived the parent’s legal rights and is deemed to have admitted the allegations of the petition by the failure to appear. The court may make a determination of dependency and disposition based on the record and evidence presented as provided in rules prescribed by the supreme court.
G. Evidence considered by the court in making a decision pursuant to this section shall also include any substantiated allegations of abuse or neglect committed in another jurisdiction.