IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 14-0676
Filed June 25, 2014
IN THE INTEREST OF M.K., S.K.,
and T.K.,
Minor Children,
B.G., Mother,
Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Greene County, William C.
Ostlund, Judge.
A mother appeals from the order terminating her parental rights.
AFFIRMED.
Kyle Offis of Hoyt Law Firm, P.C., Jefferson, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, and Nicola Martino, County Attorney, for appellee.
Joel Baxter of Beverly Wild Law Office, P.C., Guthrie Center, for father.
Mark Rasmussen, Rasmussen Law Office, Jefferson, attorney and
guardian ad litem for minor children.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Potterfield and McDonald, JJ.
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MCDONALD, J.
Brenda, the mother of M.K., S.K., and T.K., challenges one of the four
grounds upon which the district court terminated the parental rights between her
and her three children. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
This family came to the attention of the Iowa Department of Human
Services (“IDHS”) in the fall of 2012 after the police executed a search warrant at
the family’s residence and discovered methamphetamine, paraphernalia,
methamphetamine manufacturing substances, and a handgun. At the time the
police executed the warrant, the father, Brandon, fled. Brenda took the children
from the residence and delivered them to a friend. While the police were still at
the residence executing the warrant, Brenda returned to the residence alone and
set fire to a garbage can, which she then pushed against the wall of a small shed
in an apparent attempt to raze the shed. The police found methamphetamine
manufacturing materials in the shed. The children were removed from Brenda
and the father, put in the custody of the IDHS, and placed with the children’s
grandmother. The children were adjudicated in need of assistance on November
30, 2012. At the time of removal, the children were all under three years of age.
From the initiation of this case, IDHS offered Brenda numerous services in
an attempt to reunite her with her children, but to no avail. She failed to attend
more than a majority of the supervised visits afforded her. She lacked stable
housing, moving on at least three occasions during the life of this case. She
refused to provide IDHS with the addresses and names of the people with whom
she was residing. She refused to complete drug treatment, denying she used
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drugs despite all evidence to the contrary. She also refused mental health
treatment. Brenda’s initial failure to avail herself of services was made more
complicated by developments in the criminal proceedings related to the search
warrant executed in 2012.
Brenda and Brandon were both arrested on April 27, 2013. Brenda was
charged with several offenses. The IDHS reported to the district court that in
2013 Brenda was convicted of forgery, burglary in the third degree, arson,
possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of prescription drugs,
and manufacturing methamphetamine. At trial, Brenda testified she was
convicted of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, arson, burglary in the
third degree, and aiding and abetting. Brenda was sentenced to a term of
incarceration and then transferred to the Fort Dodge Residential Correctional
Facility in October 2013. Brenda did have some visitation with the children while
incarcerated, but she was not able to effectively supervise them. IDHS
recommended the permanency plan be changed from reunification of the
children with Brenda to termination of her parental rights and placement of the
children for adoption.
At the time of the termination hearing, Brenda remained in the custody of
the Iowa Department of Correctional Services at the Fort Dodge facility. There
was evidence put into the record regarding her release date. It was undisputed,
however, that the children were not able to be returned to her care at the time of
the termination hearing—Brenda agreed with that finding. The district court
terminated Brenda and Brandon’s parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code section
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232.116(1)(d), (e), (h), and (l) (2013). Brandon does not appeal the termination
order.
On appeal, Brenda challenges only the termination order pursuant to
paragraph (e). She contends the district court erred in finding she would not be
able to care for the children in the foreseeable future because she was in custody
and not likely to be discharged any time soon. Specifically, Brenda contends that
subsequent to trial in this case she progressed through faster than expected and
will be released sooner than had been anticipated at the time of trial. None of
this is in the record. In any event, the argument is unavailing. “When the
juvenile court terminates parental rights on more than one statutory ground, we
need only find grounds to terminate under one of the sections cited by the
juvenile court to affirm.” In re S.R., 600 N.W.2d 63, 64 (Iowa Ct. App. 1999).
Brenda’s failure to challenge any of the other three grounds supporting the
termination of her parental rights means she has waived those issues on appeal.
See Iowa R. App. P. 6.903(2)(g)(3) (“Failure to cite authority in support of an
issue may be deemed waiver of that issue.”). We conclude the termination of
Brenda’s parental rights may be affirmed under any of the other grounds found
by the district court.
AFFIRMED.