PHOENIX (AP) - An appellate court ruling says state child-protection officials can try again to terminate a father’s parental rights even though a previous request on similar grounds was denied.
The state Court of Appeals ruling Thursday rejected a father’s argument that the Department of Child Safety’s second request was precluded by the denial of the first termination request.
The ruling says the department wasn’t barred from claiming abuse of a child in its second request just because there wasn’t enough evidence presented in the first hearing, and it said the department wasn’t required to present all possible grounds for termination in the first hearing.
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The ruling also said the second termination hearing involved changed circumstances and that it included a new ground requiring evidence not presented as part of the first hearing.
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