Facts: Although Child was born to never-married Father and Mother, Child lived with Maternal Grandparents for most of his life. Four and a half years after Child was born, Maternal Grandparents petitioned to have Child declared dependent and neglected and for legal custody.

In September 2018, the juvenile court found Child dependent and neglected and ordered that he remain in the custody of Maternal Grandparents. Father did not appeal this order.

In November 2018, Father moved to set aside several orders, including the September 2018 order.

In February 2019, Father filed a notice of appeal with the circuit court/trial court along with an appeal bond for costs. The trial court ruled Father’s appeal was premature because his motion to set aside was set for hearing in April 2019.

In April 2019, the juvenile court denied Father’s motion to set aside.

In January 2020, the trial court found Child dependent and neglected and that custody should remain with Maternal Grandparents. The trial court declined to consider all “other issues,” including Father’s motion to set aside the order adjudicating Child as dependent and neglected.

Father appealed.

On Appeal: The Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s judgment.

In a dependency and neglect case, juvenile court keeps exclusive jurisdiction until

• the case is dismissed,
• the custody determination is transferred to another court, or
• a petition for adoption is filed.

Absent one of these events, the juvenile court’s jurisdiction continues, and the juvenile court continues to hear any subsequent matters in that case.

Litigants wishing to appeal any final order from a dependency and neglect case in juvenile court may do so by filing and perfecting an appeal with the circuit court within 10 days. A party perfects an appeal when a notice of appeal is filed and

• a filing fee is paid, or bond in lieu of the filing fee is posted;
• an affidavit of indigence is filed and an order allowing filing on a pauper’s oath is entered; or
• the Court has previously determined the appellant to be indigent.

Only after an appeal is timely filed and perfected does the circuit court acquire jurisdiction to try the case de novo.

The juvenile court may enter multiple final orders in any case that began as a dependency and neglect matter. Thus, circuit courts may entertain multiple appeals from these cases.

First, the Court held it was “plain error” for the trial court to conduct a de novo hearing on dependency and neglect because Father did not timely appeal that final order.

Next, the Court considered whether the trial court erred in not considering Father’s motion to set aside the order adjudicating Child as dependent and neglected.

The juvenile court’s April [] 2019 order was a final order that was appealable to the trial court. Thus, the question becomes whether Father properly and timely perfected an appeal of this order. According to the record, Father did not file an appeal after the juvenile court’s entry of the April [] 2019 order. However, the record shows that a notice of appeal and an appeal bond for costs were filed two months prior [in] February [] 2019. Under Tennessee Rule of Juvenile Procedure 118(e), any appeal that is filed prematurely “shall be treated as filed on the day of entry of the order from which the appeal is taken.” Therefore, it is possible that Father timely perfected an appeal of the juvenile courts April [] 2019 order. If Father timely perfected his appeal of this order, then the trial court erred in refusing to review it.

Given the foregoing, we vacate the portion of the trial court’s order ruling that it would consider “no other issues.”

The case was remanded for the trial court to determine whether Father perfected his appeal and, if so, to proceed with a de novo review of his motion to set aside the adjudicatory order.

In re Ryat M. (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Middle Section, September 27, 2021).

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