Nicholas Lelieur v. State of Arkansas ( 2023 )


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  •                                  Cite as 
    2023 Ark. App. 240
    ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
    DIVISION IV
    No. CV-22-293
    NICHOLAS LELIEUR                                Opinion Delivered April   26, 2023
    APPELLANT
    APPEAL FROM THE CONWAY
    COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
    V.                                              [NO. 15PR-22-15]
    STATE OF ARKANSAS                               HONORABLE JERRY RAMEY, JUDGE
    APPELLEE
    REMANDED TO SETTLE AND
    SUPPLEMENT THE RECORD
    STEPHANIE POTTER BARRETT, Judge
    This case is an appeal from the Circuit Court of Conway County ordering the
    involuntarily admission of the appellant, Nicholas Lelieur, to a receiving facility or program
    for alcohol- or drug-addiction treatment pursuant to 
    Ark. Code Ann. § 20-64-821
    (d) (Repl.
    2018). On February 10, 2022, Nicholas Lelieur’s mother, Angel Cloud, filed in the probate
    division of the Conway County Circuit Court a petition to involuntarily admit her son to
    an appropriate facility or program for drug-addiction treatment based on her belief that he
    was “homicidal, suicidal, or gravely disabled” due to a severe addiction to fentanyl. A hearing
    was held, and the order of involuntary admission was signed by the court on February 11,
    2022, but not filed until February 18, 2022, with the Conway County clerk.
    Arkansas Code Annotated section 20-64-802 (Repl. 2018) provides that circuit courts
    have exclusive jurisdiction for procedures for involuntary commitments for alcohol- or drug-
    addiction treatment and may conduct involuntary-commitment hearings within any county
    of the circuit judge’s judicial district. On February 11, 2022, Lelieur appeared for the hearing
    and was appointed counsel to represent him pursuant to 
    Ark. Code Ann. § 20-64-820
    (a)
    (Repl. 2018).
    The issue on appeal is whether there is clear and convincing evidence to support
    Lelieur’s involuntary admission to twenty-one days in Harbor House or another suitable
    facility. The order of involuntary admission is not a part of the record before this court. To
    be clear, the record before this court contains a notice of appeal that designates an order of
    February 11, 2022, as the order from which he takes his appeal. However, for whatever
    reason, the order signed on February 11, 2022, committing Lelieur to Harbor House in Hot
    Springs was not filed until February 18, 2022. Lelieur’s notice of appeal states, “[N]otice
    hereby is given that Respondent appeals to the Arkansas Court of Appeals from the order
    filed against Respondent by the state on February 11, 2022. . . . The Respondent hereby
    designates the entire record and all proceedings, motions, exhibits, documents, testimony
    entered into evidence, and all documents entered under file mark contained in the court
    record.” The February 11 order was not made a part of the trial record even though the
    notice of appeal recited the record was to include “all file marked documents.”
    A record on appeal shall be compiled in accordance with the rules of the Arkansas
    Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Ark. R. App. P.–Civ. 6(a). The record in civil cases
    consists of the pleadings, judgment, decree, order appealed, transcript, exhibits, and
    certificates. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 3-1(n). If an appellant is going to argue on appeal that the
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    evidence does not support, or is contrary to, a finding or conclusion, the party “shall include
    in the record a transcript of all evidence relevant to such finding or conclusion.” Ark. R.
    App. P.–Civ. 6(b). If anything material to either party is omitted from the record, either by
    error or by accident, we may direct that the omission or misstatement be corrected and, if
    necessary, that a supplemental record be certified and transmitted. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 3.3; Ark.
    R. App. P.–Civ. 6(e); Perez v. State, 
    2015 Ark. App. 561
    ; Lacy v. State, 
    2017 Ark. App. 509
    ;
    Jenkins v. APS Ins., LLC, 
    2012 Ark. App. 368
    , at 5–6. We remand this case to settle and
    supplement the record because we are unable to determine whether we have subject-matter
    jurisdiction over the appeal. Air Masters Mech., Inc. v. Goodman Distrib., Inc., 
    2015 Ark. App. 315
    . Here, it appears that the final order was omitted from the record by either error or
    accident.
    Accordingly, we hereby remand to the circuit court to settle and supplement the
    record with the final order of involuntary admission within thirty days from the date of this
    opinion.
    Remanded to settle and supplement the record.
    KLAPPENBACH and BROWN, JJ., agree.
    Beth Wright, Public Defender, for appellant.
    Leslie Rutledge, Att’y Gen., by: Rachel Kemp, Sr. Ass’t Att’y Gen., for appellee.
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Document Info

Filed Date: 4/26/2023

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/26/2023