Arizona Laws 8-537. Termination adjudication hearing
A. If a petition for terminating the parent-child relationship is contested, the court shall hold a termination adjudication hearing within ninety days after the initial severance hearing. The general public shall be excluded and only such persons admitted whose presence the judge finds to have a direct interest in the case or the work of the court, provided that such person so admitted shall not disclose any information secured at the hearing. The court may require the presence of any parties and witnesses it deems necessary to the disposition of the petition, except that a parent who has executed a waiver pursuant to section 8-535 or who has relinquished the parent’s rights to the child shall not be required to appear at the hearing.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 8-537
- Child: means a person less than eighteen years of age. See Arizona Laws 8-531
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Parent: means the natural or adoptive mother or father of a child. See Arizona Laws 8-531
- Parent-child relationship: includes all rights, privileges, duties and obligations existing between parent and child, including inheritance rights. See Arizona Laws 8-531
- Parties: includes the child, the petitioners and any parent of the child required to consent to the adoption pursuant to section 8-106. See Arizona Laws 8-531
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Petition: means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Pretrial conference: A meeting of the judge and lawyers to discuss which matters should be presented to the jury, to review evidence and witnesses, to set a timetable, and to discuss the settlement of the case.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
B. The court’s findings with respect to grounds for termination shall be based on clear and convincing evidence under the rules applicable and adhering to the trial of civil causes. The court may consider any and all reports required by this article or ordered by the court pursuant to this article and such reports are admissible in evidence without objection.
C. If a parent does not appear at the pretrial conference, status conference or termination adjudication hearing, the court, after determining that the parent has been instructed as provided in section 8-535, may find that the parent has waived the parent’s legal rights and is deemed to have admitted the allegations of the petition by the failure to appear. The court may terminate the parent-child relationship as to a parent who does not appear based on the record and evidence presented as provided in rules prescribed by the supreme court.