06/21/2022 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE Assigned on Briefs April 1, 2022 IN RE JOSE A. Appeal from the Juvenile Court for Rutherford County No. TC-4209 Donna Scott Davenport, Judge ___________________________________ No. M2021-00828-COA-R3-JV ___________________________________ A relative of an undocumented minor filed a guardianship petition in juvenile court. The petition also requested that the court make special findings to enable the minor to apply for special immigrant juvenile status under federal law. The juvenile court issued a guardianship order with special findings but only after the minor turned 18. On appeal, the relative raises issues with the court’s special findings. We conclude that the juvenile court lost subject matter jurisdiction to appoint a guardian once the minor turned 18. So we do not reach the merits of this appeal. We vacate the court’s decision with directions to dismiss the guardianship petition. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Juvenile Court Vacated W. NEAL MCBRAYER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which J. STEVEN STAFFORD, P.J., W.S., and THOMAS R. FRIERSON II, J., joined. Timothy J. Gudmundson, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Reina Idalia Echeverria Garcia. OPINION I. Jose A. was born in Honduras. For most of his life, he lived there with his mother and younger brother. He had no relationship with his father. In his teens, local gangs pressured Jose to join their ranks. He resisted. But then a person fired shots in front of his home, which Jose took as a warning against further resistance. Fearing for his safety, Jose left home and traveled to the United States. He crossed the border in September 2020. Federal authorities placed him with his paternal aunt in Tennessee. In November, the aunt petitioned the juvenile court to be appointed guardian for her seventeen-year-old nephew. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 34-2-103 (2021). The petition also requested that the court make special findings to enable Jose to apply for special immigrant juvenile status. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(J); 8 C.F.R. § 204.11 (2022). Among other things, the petition specifically requested a finding that reunification with Jose’s parents was not possible due to abandonment. The juvenile court magistrate’s order granted the guardianship and made special findings. But the order did not contain a finding that Jose’s parents had abandoned him. Rather, the juvenile court magistrate found that reunification with Jose’s parents was not viable due to his age and the violence in Honduras. Dissatisfied with the special findings, the aunt requested a de novo hearing before a juvenile court judge. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-107(d) (Supp. 2021). Because Jose’s eighteenth birthday was fast approaching, the aunt requested an expedited hearing. The court granted the request and held a de novo hearing just twelve days before Jose’s birthday. Both Jose and his aunt testified. The court also admitted into evidence a written statement from Jose’s mother in Honduras. The court entered an order granting the guardianship after Jose turned 18. The court also made …
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