FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, ET AL.,

Fla. 3d DCA | 2020-06-24
No. 20-0745
45 Fla. L. Weekly D442 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2020) Positive Treatment
Cited by 1 case

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Synopsis

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) petitioned for a writ of certiorari to quash a trial court order compelling it to provide mental health treatment to an inmate. The appellate court granted the petition, finding the order violated due process because it was issued without adequate notice to DCF.


Holding

Yes, the trial court's order violated due process by granting relief not requested or noticed for hearing. Therefore, the order is quashed.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court order compelling a non-party to provide mental health treatment in jail to an inmate adjudicated incompetent to proceed may be quashed by writ of certiorari…

[2] A trial court order granting relief not requested or noticed for hearing by any party violates due process.

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Key Quotes

“[QUOTE REDACTED — failed verbatim audit (paraphrase, not verbatim). See original_text for the text as originally displayed.]”

This quote establishes the legal principle that issuing orders without proper notice violates due process.

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Facts & Procedural History

The trial court issued an order compelling the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to arrange mental health treatment for an inmate adjudicated …

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Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

The Department of Children and Families (the “Department”), a non-party to the proceedings below, petitions for a writ of certiorari quashing the trial court’s order compelling it to arrange for the provision of mental health treatment in jail to an inmate adjudicated incompetent to proceed. We find the trial court was not authorized to issue this order without adequate notice and therefore grant the petition and quash the trial court’s order. The Department contends that certiorari relief is warranted as the trial court’s order is a departure from the essential requirements of the law that causes it irreparable harm, for which it has no adequate remedy on appeal. See Dep’t of Children & Families v. Morrison, 727 So. 2d 404, 405 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999) (granting writ of certiorari where Department, non-party to underlying criminal case, would suffer irreparable harm and had no other adequate remedy). The trial court’s order granted relief that was not requested or noticed for hearing by either party.1 See Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’n v. Blocker, 728 So. 2d 306, 307 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999); Kerrigan, Estess, Rankin & McLeod v. State, 711 So. 2d 1246, 1248-49 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998), and the cases cited therein. “We have previously held that ‘the granting

of relief, which is not sought by the notice of hearing or which expands the scope of a hearing and decides matters not noticed for hearing, violates due process.’” Afanasiev v. Alvarez, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D442, D442 (Fla. 3d DCA Feb. 26, 2020) (quoting Lapciuc v. Lapciuc, 275 So. 3d 242, 245 (Fla. 3d DCA 2019)); see also Mizrahi v. Mizrahi, 867 So. 2d 1211, 1213 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) (“Due process protections prevent a trial court from deciding matters not noticed for hearing and not the subject of appropriate pleadings.”). This denial of due process constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of law, for which the Department has no adequate remedy on appeal. The order is therefore quashed, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.

Footnotes
1 Neither of the parties has taken a position on the merits of the Department’s petition. Subsequent to the entry of the order on review, Emergency Orders DCF-20-096-EO and DCF-20-097-EO have suspended the Department’s obligations pursuant to section 916.107(1)(a), Florida Statutes, regarding the transfer of forensic clients to a civil or forensic facility and the provision of treatment for forensic clients not yet in a civil or forensic facility through June 30, 2020.

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