Case Information
*1 FOURTH DIVISION
BARNES, P. J.,
RAY and MCMILLIAN, JJ. NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed.
http://www.gaappeals.us/rules
January 11, 2016 In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
A15A2070. IN THE INTEREST OF C. M. B., a child.
M C M ILLIAN , Judge.
This case presents an issue of first impression under the new Juvenile Code – how to calculate the 72-hour period under OCGA § 15-11-521 (a) during which the State must file a delinquency petition following a detention hearing.
The facts are largely undisputed. On Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., the juvenile court signed an order detaining C. M. B. on various charges, and a delinquency petition was filed against him on Monday, February 9, 2015 at 1:24 p.m. At the ten-day hearing on February 18, 2015, C. M. B.’s attorney verbally moved to dismiss the petition and for the release of C. M. B. based on the fact that the petition was not filed by Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., which he asserted was mandated by the 72-hour rule under OCGA § 15-11-521 (a). The trial court entered *2 an order denying the verbal motion, finding that under OCGA § 15-11-5, the day C. M. B. was detained and the intervening weekend days were not included in calculating the 72-hour period. The trial court found, therefore, that the State had until Tuesday, February 10, 2015 to file its petition, and because the petition was filed on Monday, February 9, it was timely. The trial court later signed a certificate of immediate review of its order, and this appeal follows our grant of C. M. B.’s application for interlocutory appeal.
The record indicates that C. M. B. was initially detained on January 29, 2015, and under OCGA § 15-11-521 (a), [1]
[i]f a child is in detention prior to adjudication, a petition alleging delinquency shall be filed not later than 72 hours after the detention hearing. If no petition alleging delinquency is filed within the applicable time, such child shall be released from detention and the complaint shall be dismissed without prejudice. [2]
*3 The trial court’s “Order Following Detention Hearing for Child Alleged to Be Delinquent Pursuant to OCGA § 15-11-506,” was signed at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 5, 2015, and the parties do not dispute that we calculate the 72-hour period from that time.
To determine whether the delinquency petition was timely, we turn to the applicable provisions of the Juvenile Code, which set how time periods are to be calculated. Under the current version of OCGA § 15-11-5 (a),
[w]hen a period of time measured in days, weeks, months, years, or other measurements of time is prescribed for the exercise of any privilege or the discharge of any duty, the first day shall not be counted but the last day shall be counted; and, if the last day falls on a weekend, the party having such privilege or duty shall have through the following business day to exercise such privilege or discharge such duty.
(Emphasis supplied.) And under OCGA § 15-11-5 (c), “[w]hen the period of time prescribed is less than seven days, intermediate weekends and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation.”
In construing these provisions, “we apply the fundamental rules of statutory
construction that require us to construe the statute according to its terms, [and] to give
words their plain and ordinary meaning.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.)
*4
Lakeview Behavioral Health Sys., LLC v. UHS Peachford, LP
,
This interpretation is supported by the legislature’s April 2014 amendment to OCGA § 15-11-5 (a) (the “2014 amendment”). When the statute was enacted in 2013, subsection (a) provided that
[w]hen a period of time measured in days, weeks, months, years, or other measurements of time except hours is prescribed for the exercise of any privilege or the discharge of any duty, the first day shall not be counted but the last day shall be counted; and, if the last day falls on a weekend, the party having such privilege or duty shall have through the following business day to exercise such privilege or discharge such duty.
(Emphasis supplied.) Thus, in the original enactment of this provision, the General Assembly expressly excluded periods of time measured by hours from the provisions of OCGA § 15-11-5 (a), but the 2014 amendment deleted the phrase “except hours” from subsection (a). Ga. L. 2014, p. 780, 781, § 1-2 (Act 635). This amendment became effective upon its approval by the Governor on April 28, 2014, Ga. L. 2014, p. 780, 800, § 5-1, and applies in this case.
The use of the phrase “except hours” in the original version of the statute is
plain and unambiguous: OCGA § 15-11-5 (a) was not originally intended to govern
any time period measured in hours. It is equally apparent that by deleting this
language, the legislature intended that periods of time measured in hours no longer
*6
would be excepted from the statute’s provisions. See
Transp. Ins. Co. v. El Chico
Restaurants, Inc.
,
Our construction of these statutory provisions is not changed by the fact that
OCGA § 15-11-521 (a) itself contains no language expressly excluding holidays and
weekends from the calculation of the 72-hour period, while, as C. M. B. notes, two
other provisions of the new Juvenile Code have included and/or currently include
*7
such language. See OCGA § 15-11-506
[3]
and OCGA § 15-11-400 (a).
[4]
Although C.
M. B. does not expressly invoke the
in pari materia
rule in making this argument, it
is clear that C. M. B. is essentially asserting that these statutes must be read together
and that the absence of the language excluding holidays and weekends in OCGA §
*8
15-11-521 (a) means that holidays and weekends are included in the computation of
the 72-hour period. See
Northeast Atlanta Bonding Co. v. State of Ga.
, 308 Ga. App.
573, 579 (1) (
Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s order denying the motion to dismiss the delinquency petition.
Judgment affirmed. Barnes, P. J., and Ray, J., concur .
Notes
[1] Georgia revised its Juvenile Code in May 2013 (the “2013 revision”), and the new Code applies to all juvenile proceedings commenced on or after January 1, 2014, including the proceedings in this case. Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, 514, § 5-1 (Act 127). Both OCGA §§ 15-11-5 and 15-11-521 were enacted as a part of the 2013 revision. Ga. L. 2013, p. 294, 295, § 1-1. We note that OCGA § 15-11-521 has not been amended since its passage.
[2] This subsection also allows for the refiling of the petition in accordance with subsection (b) of the statute within the statute of limitations. OCGA § 15-11-521 (a).
[3] OCGA § 15-11-506 (c) provides: Notwithstanding Code Section 15-11-5, if the detention hearing cannot be held within two days in accordance with paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section because the date for the hearing falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the court shall review the decision to detain such child and make a finding based on probable cause within 48 hours of such child being placed in preadjudication custody.
[4] OCGA § 15-11-400 (a) provides: The continued custody hearing for a child alleged to be a child in need of services shall be held promptly and no later than: (1) Twenty-four hours, excluding weekends and holidays, after such child is taken into temporary custody if he or she is being held in a secure residential facility or nonsecure residential facility; or (2) Seventy-two hours, excluding weekends and holidays, after such child is placed in foster care. See Ga. L. 2014, p. 780, § 1-25.