Wisconsin Statutes 48.315 – Delays, continuances and extensions
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Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 48.315
- Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
- 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.
- Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- 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 all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Qualified: when applied to any person elected or appointed to office, means that such person has done those things which the person was by law required to do before entering upon the duties of the person's office. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
(1) The following time periods shall be excluded in computing time periods under this chapter:
(a) Any period of delay resulting from other legal actions concerning the child or the unborn child and the unborn child’s expectant mother, including an examination under s. 48.295 or a hearing related to the mental condition of the child, the child’s parent, guardian or legal custodian or the expectant mother, prehearing motions, waiver motions and hearings on other matters.
(b) Any period of delay resulting from a continuance granted at the request of or with the consent of the child and his or her counsel or of the unborn child’s guardian ad litem.
(c) Any period of delay caused by the disqualification of a judge.
(d) Any period of delay resulting from a continuance granted at the request of the representative of the public under s. 48.09 if the continuance is granted because of the unavailability of evidence material to the case when he or she has exercised due diligence to obtain the evidence and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the evidence will be available at the later date, or to allow him or her additional time to prepare the case and additional time is justified because of the exceptional circumstances of the case.
(e) Any period of delay resulting from the imposition of a consent decree.
(f) Any period of delay resulting from the absence or unavailability of the child or expectant mother.
(fm) Any period of delay resulting from the inability of the court to provide the child with notice of an extension hearing under s. 48.365 due to the child having run away or otherwise having made himself or herself unavailable to receive that notice.
(g) A reasonable period of delay when the child is joined in a hearing with another child as to whom the time for a hearing has not expired under this section if there is good cause for not hearing the cases separately.
(h) Any period of delay resulting from the need to appoint a qualified interpreter.
(j) A reasonable period of delay, not to exceed 20 days, in a proceeding involving the out-of-home care placement of or termination of parental rights to a child whom the court knows or has reason to know is an Indian child, resulting from a continuance granted at the request of the child’s parent, Indian custodian, or tribe to enable the requester to prepare for the proceeding.
(1m) Subsection (1) (a), (d), (e), (fm), (g), and (j) does not apply to proceedings under s. 48.375 (7).
(2) A continuance shall be granted by the court only upon a showing of good cause in open court or during a telephone conference under s. 807.13 on the record and only for so long as is necessary, taking into account the request or consent of the district attorney or the parties and the interest of the public in the prompt disposition of cases.
(2m) No continuance or extension of a time period specified in this chapter may be granted and no period of delay specified in sub. (1) may be excluded in computing a time period under this chapter if the continuance, extension, or exclusion would result in any of the following:
(a) The court making an initial finding under s. 48.21 (5) (b) 1. or 1m., 48.32 (1) (b) 1., 48.355 (2) (b) 6., or 48.357 (2v) (a) 1. that reasonable efforts have been made to prevent the removal of the child from the home, while assuring that the child’s health and safety are the paramount concerns, or an initial finding under s. 48.21 (5) (b) 3., 48.32 (1) (b) 2., 48.355 (2) (b) 6r., or 48.357 (2v) (a) 3. that those efforts were not required to be made because a circumstance specified in s. 48.355 (2d) (b) 1. to 5. applies, more than 60 days after the date on which the child was removed from the home.
(b) The court making an initial finding under s. 48.38 (5m) that the agency primarily responsible for providing services to the child has made reasonable efforts to achieve the permanency goal of the child’s permanency plan more than 12 months after the date on which the child was removed from the home or making any subsequent findings under s. 48.38 (5m) as to those reasonable efforts more than 12 months after the date of a previous finding as to those reasonable efforts.
(c) The court making a finding under s. 48.366 (3) (am) 3. that a person‘s placement in out-of-home care under a transition-to-independent-living agreement is in the best interests of the person more than 180 days after the date on which the agreement is entered into.
(3) Failure by the court or a party to act within any time period specified in this chapter does not deprive the court of personal or subject matter jurisdiction or of competency to exercise that jurisdiction. Failure to object to a period of delay or a continuance waives any challenge to the court’s competency to act during the period of delay or continuance. If the court or a party does not act within a time period specified in this chapter, the court, while assuring the safety of the child, may grant a continuance under sub. (2), dismiss the proceeding without prejudice, release the child from secure or nonsecure custody or from the terms of a custody order, or grant any other relief that the court considers appropriate.