dissenting.
[T21] Onee again I find myself at odds with a majority opinion of this Court over the interpretation of how the legislature intends a juvenile court action to proceed. In this case, the majority opinion holds that a mother may unilaterally determine an out-of-state private placement for her son and, simply because a delinquency petition has been filed against her son, the juvenile court may order the State of Wyoming to pick up the bill for such private placement. Because I do not agree that the legislature intended such haphazard expenditure of public funds, I respectfully dissent.
[122] This case involves statutory interpretation of the Juvenile Justice Act, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-201 through § 252 (Lexis-Nexis 2001). Many of the general statements regarding interpretation of the Suve-nile Justice Act contained in my dissent in the recent case of WJH v. State, 2001 WY 54, ¶¶27, 30, 24 P.3d 1147, ¶¶27, 30 (Wyo.2001) are equally applicable here. The Juvenile Justice Act must be interpreted as a whole. Any interpretation must start with the premise that the juvenile court is a court of limited jurisdiction, The juvenile court must have statutory authority for its actions.
[128] In this case, the juvenile court has ordered the State of Wyoming Department of Family Services to pay for a private placement unilaterally selected by a juvenile's mother. The majority opinion legitimizes this action by holding that Wyo. Stat. Aun. § 14-6-229(a)(v) was "substantially adhered to," thus authorizing the order for payment. As a matter of statutory construction, I disagree with this holding on two grounds.
[1241 First, § 14-6-229 does not apply to the facts of this case. Section 14-6-229 is the statutory section defining options available to the juvenile court in determining the disposition for a juvenile adjudicated delinquent. The operative language in that statute under review is; "In determining the disposition to be made under this act in regard to any child ... the court shall not order an out-of-state placement unless...." By its terms, its application is limited to situations in which the juvenile court is considering ordering an out-of-state placement as part of the terms of disposition of a juvenile adjudicated delinquent. This section has no application to the facts of this case. At no time did the juvenile court order placement of DCP at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah, whether as part of disposition or otherwise.1 This should be the end of the discussion. Because the majority opinion goes further, however, so shall I.
*34[125] Second, accepting arguendo that § 229 somehow can be applied to these facts, there was no substantial compliance with § 229. Substantial compliance requires compliance with all material provisions of a statute. The principle of substantial compliance exists to allow for irregularities that do not affect any substantive principles. See generally State v. Dobbs, 70 Wyo. 26, 35, 244 P.2d 280, 282-83 (Wyo0.1952).
[126] By even applying § 229 to the facts of this case, the majority opinion obviously concludes that the language applying this section only to court orders of disposition is not material and can be ignored, essentially removing the section from its context within the Juvenile Justice Act. The application of this section is thus broadened to apply to any placement at any time for any reason, judicially creating a substantive change in the law. This Court should not extend the application of this section beyond what is obviously and clearly intended by the legislature. There can be no substantial compliance with this section when no attempt is being made to apply the section to an order of disposition.
[127] Further, looking specifically at subsection 229(a)(v),2 the substantive purpose of this subsection is clear. In a perfect world, every juvenile would receive the best treatment available. This, however, is not a per-feet world. This is a world in which budgetary constraints are a reality. The legislature is well aware of these budgetary constraints and has adopted a statutory scheme to help ensure that the best possible treatment is available to the greatest number of Wyoming juveniles. The statutory scheme includes limitations on the juvenile court's ability to order out-of-state placements. The limitation, put simply, is that certain specific evidence must be submitted that all in-state options have been examined and that the out-of-state placement is the most economical, suitable alternative. This limitation is intended to protect the dollars of Wyoming taxpayers as well as to protect all juveniles who may come into the system needing help.
[T28] The record simply does not support the conclusion that the statutorily required factual information was presented to the juvenile court. Subsection 229(a)(v)(A) requires certain evidence to be presented to the juvenile court on costs of placement options "as determined by the department" of family services. There was no representative of the Department of Family Services present at the hearing from which the order for payment originated. Thus, the Department did not present any direct evidence or argument regarding costs of placements. Further, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 21-13-315(d)(vii) 3 requires very specific information to be present in the predisposition report of the Department of Family Services. None of this information was included in the predisposition report.
[129] Again, the majority opinion obviously concludes that the legislature was only adding superfluous language when it required the presentation of very specific cost information "as determined by the department." I cannot agree that requiring the State to provide very specific cost information is not a material provision in a statute intended to protect public money. Because no cost information "as determined by the department" regarding suitable alternative in-state facilities was presented to the juvenile court, there was no compliance with the statute, substantial or otherwise.
[180] Subsections 229(a)(v)(B) and (C), for the purposes of this appeal, are somewhat related. They require respectively the juvenile court to make "an affirmative finding on the record that no placement can be made in" Wyoming and to state "on the record why no in-state placement is available." While some information was presented on the efficacy of the placement at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah, there was no information regarding suitable in-state options. The juvenile court specifically asked if the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston had been considered, and the mother answered that it had not been considered. No cost information was presented regarding the Wyoming State Hospital nor was any information pre*35sented regarding its suitability as a placement alternative for DCP. Thus, at least one potentially viable alternative was not even considered at the hearing, nor was it considered before the placement.
[131] In fact, the mother stated to the juvenile court that she did not seriously consider placing DCP any place other than Primary Children's Hospital. The mother was informed, before her placing her son at Primary Children's Hospital, that other in-state alternatives might be options, but she placed DCP at Primary Children's Hospital because she was told that it could provide the best evaluation and treatment. As she stated to the juvenile court, she believed Primary Children's Hospital "was the best place to do the eval on [DCP] and the eval was to take two to three weeks and then start treatment." While the intentions of the mother are commendable, and she may even be correct in her determination that Primary Children's Hospital was the best possible placement for her son, the placement still was made with no regard for the juvenile court process and no regard for the budget of the State of Wyoming Department of Family Services. If anything is clear from § 229(a)(v), it is that the State cannot be financially Hable for such a decision.
[182] The filing of a petition alleging a juvenile is delinquent begins a judicial process. The judicial process is delineated by the legislature in the Juvenile Justice Act. Again, my general comments regarding the dispositional process in my dissent in WJH, at 11 56, 57, apply to this case. The disposi-tional process is supposed to be marked by a group of professionals investigating the specific circumstances of a juvenile and making recommendations as a team to the juvenile court. The juvenile court then acts upon those recommendations. In this case, despite the fact that there was a judicially appointed and operating multidisciplinary team, the mother unilaterally placed her son in Utah.4 The juvenile court was not approached for a court order for such a placement.
[133] It would have been an easy matter to bring a placement of DCP within the ambit of the Juvenile Justice Act. The mother is a party to the juvenile court proceedings 5 and as such at any time could have requested a hearing before the juvenile court. Because the mother obviously wanted a medical evaluation of her son before disposition, she could easily have requested the juvenile court to order such under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-219(a) (LexisNexis 2001) which states:
Any time after the filing of a petition, on motion of the district attorney or the child's parents, guardian, custodian or attorney or on motion of the court, the court may order the child to be examined by a licensed and qualified physician, surgeon, psychiatrist or psychologist designated by the court to aid in determining the physical and mental condition of the child. The examination shall be conducted on an outpatient basis, but the court may commit the child to a suitable medical facility or institution for examination if deemed nee-essary. Commitment for examination shall not exceed fifteen (15) days.
Thus, the mother could have requested the juvenile court to order a medical evaluation and could have requested the evaluation be done at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah. If the court had so ordered, then DCP could have been evaluated in Utah and the county would have paid for the evaluation.6 The mother also could have requested the placement in Utah for evaluation and treatment as part of disposition, but no proper dispositional hearing ever occurred.7
[134] Certainly the juvenile, the parents, and other interested parties continue to live their lives and make their own personal decisions while the judicial process is underway, *36but such personal decisions should not be confused with judicially authorized decisions. Personal decisions are made entirely at the risk of the individual. Indeed, in this case, upon unilaterally making the decision to place her son at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah, the mother acknowledged that she would be responsible for the costs, at least until the scheduled dispositional hearing was held. The dispositional hearing was postponed twice, the first time because "the juvenile is undergoing an evaluation at Primary Children's Hospital and will not be completed by said date" while the second continuance was granted at the joint request of the mother and the prosecuting attorney.
[135] The critical factor in this case is that the mother was in complete control of the placement. She was the one who placed DCP at Primary Children's Hospital in Utah, acknowledging that it was at her own expense. She is the one who decided to keep DCP at Primary Children's Hospital not only for a complete evaluation but also for treatment. She could bave asked for a hearing before the juvenile court to bring the placement within the parameters of the Juvenile Justice Act. She did not make any effort to do so. Indeed, she acquiesced in two contin-vances of the dispositional hearing, thus avoiding the juvenile court. It was only after DCP had completed his evaluation and almost completed treatment that DCPs mother came before the juvenile court. The hearing was ostensibly a dispositional hearing but the mother, through her attorney, stated up front that there was no need for the juvenile court to address the disposition of DCP. Instead, the only issue addressed was the oral request from DCP's mother that the juvenile court order the State of Wyoming Department of Family Services to pay for the costs of a placement she unilaterally chose completely outside of the framework of the Juvenile Justice Act.8
[136] My dissent in In re NG, 14 P34 203 (Wyo.2000), which the majority opinion has quoted in part, is equally applicable here. The people of Wyoming should not be required to pay for a private placement that was undertaken with absolutely no regard for the procedural and substantive requirements of the Juvenile Justice Act. The legislature has clearly enacted statutes that protect against such an outcome and such statutes should not be ignored or interpreted by this Court so broadly, under the guise of substantial compliance, as to lose all their intended protective effect.
[137] Because the majority opinion does not properly analyze the pertinent statutory language and extends the principle of substantial compliance beyond all recognition, I respectfully dissent.
. I note a serious concern as to whether the juvenile court process was even properly in the dispositional phase. The initial hearing was held before the court commissioner, not the court. The juvenile purportedly admitted to the allegations in the petition, and the court commissioner issued the "Initial Hearing Order" adjudicating DCP delinquent and ordering custody arrangements and various other matters. Although the court commissioner's "order" was ratified by the juvenile court almost a month later, holding an initial hearing before the court commissioner seems to exceed the authority of the court commissioner, thus rendering the adjudication void. I also note a concern over the policy of the juvenile court to tape record the initial hearing but only retain the tape recording for four months. Thus, no transcript of the initial hearing is available for this appeal, and this Court cannot review the proceedings at that initial hearing. These are serious issues affecting the fundamental rights of DCP, and this Court could therefore take cognizance of them. However, because neither issue has been addressed by the parties in this appeal, the issues are better left to another day when they may be directly on point before this Court.
. The complete text of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-229(a)(v) is found in the majority opinion at I 8.
. Cited in full in the majority opinion at 1 8.
. The record contains no report from the multidisciplinary team.
, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-6-201(a)(xviii) (LexisNex-is 2001) defines "party" as including "the child, his parents...."
. Wyo. Stat, Ann. § 14-6-235(b)(iv) (LexisNexis 2001). "Costs of any physical or mental examinations or treatment ordered by the court" are to be paid by the county.
. The case was terminated before any judicially determined disposition.
. By affirming the court order of payment in this case, it is interesting to note that the majority opinion, while properly emphasizing the need for the Department of Family Services and the juvenile court to work together to promote the best interests of children, has in effect cut the Department of Family Services out of the process all together, calling only on the Department's checkbook at the end of the day. The statutory scheme is clear that procedurally and substantively such a result is unacceptable.