In re J.L., 2016 Ohio 5649

School counselor reported two children, J.L. and R.L., absent for two weeks and expressed concern about the mother’s mental illness. Police responded to the home on December 10, 2014.
Officer Miller found the house extremely cluttered; mother appeared disorganized, made delusional statements (government spying), and could not locate the children. Children were found hiding and said mother told them to be quiet and that people would take them away.
Officers had concerns about mother’s mental state and involuntarily transported her to Kettering Medical Center for evaluation; she was hospitalized Dec. 10–23, 2014. Probate court later found mother mentally incompetent and ordered forced medication.
Montgomery County Children Services (MCCS) sought dependency adjudication and temporary custody on Dec. 17, 2014; hearing originally set for Feb. 24, 2015 and continued to Apr. 10, 2015.
Mother did not appear on Apr. 10, 2015, leaving a voicemail 30 minutes before the hearing requesting 60 days to retain private counsel. The magistrate denied the continuance, conducted the hearing with witnesses present, adjudicated the children dependent under R.C. 2151.04, and granted MCCS temporary custody under R.C. 2151.353.
Mother appealed, raising (1) that her involuntary commitment violated R.C. 5122.10 and O’Connor v. Donaldson, and (2) that denial of a continuance deprived her of a fair hearing. The juvenile court adopted the magistrate’s decision; the appellate court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Lawfulness of mother’s involuntary commitment under R.C. 5122.10 / O’Connor v. Donaldson	Mother: no substantial risk of physical harm; commitment unlawful	State/MCCS: commitment not before this court on appeal from dependency adjudication	Court: Not reached — appellate court lacked jurisdiction to review commitment because it was not part of the juvenile judgment on appeal
Denial of continuance and mother’s absence at adjudication	Mother: magistrate abused discretion by denying 60-day continuance; denial deprived her of a fair hearing	MCCS/State: request made 30 minutes before hearing without good cause; mother had six weeks to obtain counsel; witnesses ready	Court: No abuse of discretion; continuance was properly denied; mother waived objections by failing to raise them below except for plain error, and no plain error shown

In re Miller, 63 Ohio St.3d 99 (1992) (R.C. Chapter 5122 procedures govern mental-health commitments)
O’Connor v. Donaldson, 422 U.S. 563 (1975) (involuntary confinement of mentally ill persons requires justification such as dangerousness)
In re Kurtzhalz, 141 Ohio St. 432 (1943) (appellate review is limited to the judgment appealed from)
AAAA Enterprises, Inc. v. River Place Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., 50 Ohio St.3d 157 (1990) (definition of abuse of discretion)
State v. Unger, 67 Ohio St.2d 65 (1981) (standard for reviewing denial of continuance)
Hartt v. Munobe, 67 Ohio St.3d 3 (1993) (parties have a right to a reasonable opportunity to be present; continuances must be for good cause)