MARY NELL DIXON, PETITIONER,
v.
RONALD H. MELTON, ET AL., RESPONDENTS
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Mary Nell Dixon challenged a trial court's order directing disclosure of confidential adoption records and holding her in contempt for refusing to disclose. The court granted a writ of prohibition, finding the Leon County Circuit Court lacked authority to order disclosure of adoption records from Okaloosa County and therefore could not hold Dixon in contempt for refusing to violate the statutory confidentiality requirement.
The Leon County Circuit Court lacked authority to order disclosure of adoption records from Okaloosa County because the court that entered the adoption order retains continuing authority over those records. Dixon could not be held in criminal contempt for refusing to disclose information the legislature mandated remain confidential, as the trial court had no authority to make the good cause finding necessary for disclosure.
[1] A court that has not entered an adoption order lacks the authority to determine good cause and order the disclosure of adoption records from a court that has entered such…
[2] A court cannot hold a party in contempt for refusing to disclose confidential information when the court lacks the authority to order such disclosure.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Although technically all circuit courts of this state have subject matter jurisdiction over adoption proceedings, once one court has exercised its jurisdiction over a particular case, another court lacks authority to determine the existence of good cause and to order the file opened.”
Establishes the core principle that the court entering an adoption order retains exclusive authority over disclosure decisions regarding that adoption file.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceDixon and Ronald Melton were divorced in Leon County in 1985 and had one child, Michelle, born in 1984. After Ronald's death in 1986, his parents obta…
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PER CURIAM.
Petitioner seeks a writ prohibiting respondent, the Honorable Judge Victor M. Cawthon, of the Second Judicial Circuit, from exercising jurisdiction over an adoption proceeding in the First Judicial Circuit. We grant the relief requested.
Petitioner and Ronald M. Melton were divorced in Leon County in 1985. They had one child, Michelle, who was born in 1984. Ronald died in an automobile accident in 1986. Thereafter, Judge Cawthon granted intervenor status in the dissolution proceeding to Ronald’s parents, respondents Ronald H. Melton and Frances Melton, and granted them visitation rights. On May 26, 1987, the Meltons secured an order setting a visitation schedule which was to commence on July 10, 1987.
Prior to the entry of the May 26 order, a petition for adoption of Michelle was filed in the First Judicial Circuit in and for Oka-loosa County. It is undisputed that neither petitioner in the adoption proceedings was married to Ms. Dixon. Compare § 63.172(2), Fla.Stat. (1987).
On June 30, 1987, the Meltons were notified that a final judgment of adoption of Michelle had been entered in Okaloosa County. Nevertheless, on July 10, 1987, Mr. Melton attempted to exercise the visitation rights. Petitioner told him the child had been adopted.
Thereafter, the Meltons filed a motion for contempt in the Leon County Court due to petitioner’s failure to abide by the May 26 visitation order. Petitioner was ordered to show cause why the motion for contempt should not be granted, and a hearing was held on July 30, 1987. At that hearing, petitioner submitted a copy of the final judgment of adoption with the case number and names of the adoptive parents obliterated. Judge Cawthon ordered petitioner to disclose the names of the adoptive parents, but she refused, citing the confidentiality requirement of section 63.162(4) Florida Statutes1 Judge Cawthon then found that good cause existed under section 63.-162(4)(d)2 for disclosing the names of the adoptive parents.
Subsequent to the hearing, Judge Caw-thon entered two written orders. One held petitioner in direct criminal contempt3 and sentenced her to 30 days in the county jail. The other order directed the clerk of the Okaloosa County Circuit Court to produce the files relating to the adoption for inspection by the Meltons. Petitioner filed a timely notice of appeal, a motion to stay, and this petition for writ of prohibition. We entered a show cause order thereby staying the effect of the disclosure order,4 and stayed the contempt order pending disposition of these proceedings.
The question of whether or not to disclose information from the file of an adoption lies with the court in which the adoption was entered, and remains under the continuing authority of that court after the final judgment of adoption is entered. Department of Rehabilitative Services v. Kimmick, 390 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). Although technically all circuit courts of this state have subject matter jurisdiction over adoption proceedings, once one court has exercised its jurisdiction over a particular case, another court lacks authority to determine the existence of good cause and to order the file opened. Id.
In Hamill v. Bower, 487 So. 2d 345 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), this court was faced with the question of whether a Florida Court, which would otherwise have jurisdiction over a child custody dispute under Florida’s version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act,5 could exercise that jurisdiction when a court in another state originally decided the custody issue, and remained a court of competent jurisdiction. In spite of the existence of technical jurisdiction, we found that the Florida Court would be acting in excess of its jurisdiction if permitted to proceed and therefore prohibition was appropriate.
Similarly here, although the Leon County Circuit Court has general subject matter jurisdiction over adoption proceedings, it would be acting in excess of that jurisdiction if permitted to usurp the continuing authority of the Okaloosa County Circuit Court. Accordingly, the petition for writ of prohibition is granted as to the order directing the clerk of the Okaloosa County Circuit Court to disclose the file.
Having determined that the judge did not have authority to order the disclosure, it necessarily follows that petitioner could not be held in contempt for refusing to disclose that which the legislature has mandated remain confidential. It should be noted that petitioner was before the court on an order to show cause why she should not be held in contempt for failing to comply with the May 26 order scheduling visitation. Petitioner did show good cause when she informed the court that her parental rights to the child had been permanently and completely terminated. However, she was then held in direct criminal contempt, not for violating the visitation order, but for failing to disclose the confidential information. In response to the court’s inquiry into whether petitioner had any cause to show why she should not be held in contempt, petitioner again relied on the confidentiality provision of the statute.
Except for specifically listed circumstances which are inapplicable here,6 disclosure may only be ordered upon a showing of good cause. As we have held, the judge did not have authority to make the finding of good cause and order disclosure. Likewise, we do not consider the substantive question of whether good cause exists to order disclosure under the circumstances presented. That determination must first be made by the court that entered the adoption order. Because the Leon County Court could not order the disclosure, it follows that petitioner cannot be held in criminal contempt for complying with the statute. Therefore, pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.040(a), we find reversal of the contempt order at this time is appropriate.
The orders of the trial court directing disclosure, and holding petitioner in contempt are reversed and this cause is remanded for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
SMITH, C.J., and SHIVERS and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur. . Section 63.162(4) provides in pertinent part:
(4) No person shall disclose from the records the name and identity of a natural parent, an adoptive parent, or an adoptee unless:
(d) Upon order of the court for good cause shown. In determining whether good cause exists, the court shall give primary consideration to the best interests of the adoptee, but shall also give due consideration to the interests of the adoptive and natural parents....
. Id.
. Fla.R.Crm.P. 3.830.
. See Fla.R.App.P. 9.100(f).
. Section 61.1302, et seq.
. Subsections (a) through (c) of § 63.162(4) provide for disclosure when authorized by an individual who is protected by the confidentiality requirement.
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In the Interest of M.L.M., 528 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…e given to the parents and to that court. Thus, I would hold that the paternal grandparents had an absolute right to intervene in the adoption proceedings and contest their validity for lack of notice. After this court’s decision in Dixon v. Melton, 515 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), the paternal grandparents had no other course of action available to them. If, however, the right to intervene is to be treated as a matter of discretion, as the majority opinion does in this case, I fully concur with the majo…1 / 2
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In re the Marriage of Mary Nell Dixon v. Ronald Michael Melton (Deceased) and Ronald H. Melton and Frances C. Melton, 565 So. 2d 1378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990)…troversy between these parties is the subject of another recent appeal now pending here from an order of the circuit court for Oka-loosa County vacating the child’s adoption, and has already involved two prior appeals to this court: Dixon v. Melton, 515 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987); In the Interest of M.L.M., 528 So. 2d 54 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). Subsequent to Ronald Melton’s death, the following events occurred: November 1986: The Meltons were granted intervenor status in the original 1985 Leon County disso…
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Dep't of Health v. The Adoption OF Baby Gilli, 746 So. 2d 1172 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999)…sues involved in the same file considered only by the Leon County Circuit Court is unnecessary and not the intent of the statute. Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services v. Kimmick, 390 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980). In Dixon v. Melton, 515 So. 2d 1309 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), the district court indicated that the question of whether to disclose adoption file information lies with the court in which the adoption was entered and “remains under the continuing authority of that court after the final judg…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Hamill v. Bower, 487 So. 2d 345 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)
- Fla. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Kimmick, 390 So. 2d 1218 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980)