Issuance of notices and service of summons

The following procedures shall apply for the issuance of notices and the service of summoness in delinquency, child-in-need-of-supervision, dependency, and termination-of-parental rights cases in juvenile courts: (A) Summons. Service of summonses shall be pursuant to the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, except as hereinafter provided: (1) After a petition alleging that a child is delinquent, in need of supervision, or dependent, or after a termination-of-parental-rights petition has been filed, summonses shall be issued to and personally served by a process server pursuant to Rule 4(i)(1), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure, upon each of the following persons: the parent or parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian, and other persons who appear to the juvenile court to be proper or necessary parties to the proceedings, requiring them to appear personally before the juvenile court at the time fixed to answer or testify as to the allegations of the petition. A child, if he or she is 12 or more years of age, shall be served with the summons directly by a process server and not by service upon any other person or by certified mail. Upon motion and for good cause shown, the court may direct that an adult be served by certified mail pursuant to Rule 4(i)(2), Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. A copy of the petition shall be attached to each summons. (2) The hearing on the allegations of the petition shall be set by entry on a trial docket or by written order at least 14 days before the date set, except where a shorter period of time is agreed to by all the parties. The clerk shall forthwith and, in no event more than three days after a case has been placed on the trial docket, provide notice as required by section (C) of this rule. (3) There shall be no service by publication of any proceeding in the juvenile court except in proceedings to terminate parental rights pursuant to § 12-15-318, Ala. Code 1975, or to remove the disabilities of nonage pursuant to § 26-13-3, Ala. Code 1975. (4) The service of the summonses shall give the juvenile court jurisdiction over the persons served. Except with respect to required service upon a child, nothing in this rule is intended to prevent the court from proceeding when a person as to whom notice or service is otherwise required to be given or issued cannot be found. (5) An adult who is a party may waive service of the summons by written stipulation or by voluntary appearance at the hearing. A person who is summoned but who fails to appear, without reasonable cause for the failure to appear, may be proceeded against for indirect criminal contempt. (6) A party not served under this rule may, for good cause shown, petition the juvenile court in writing for a modification of any order or judgment of the juvenile court. The juvenile court may dismiss this petition if, after a preliminary investigation, the juvenile court finds that the petition is without substance. If the juvenile court finds that the petition should be reviewed, the juvenile court may conduct a hearing upon the issues raised by the petition and may make any orders authorized by law relative to the issues as it deems proper. (B) Notices of Detention Hearings, Shelter-Care Hearings, and 72-hour Hearings. Oral or written notice of all detention hearings and shelter-care hearings in delinquency and child-in-need-of-supervision cases, stating the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearings and that the child, parent or parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian has the right to counsel, shall be given to the parent or parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian if he or she can be found and to the child if the child is over 12 years of age. Oral or written notice of the 72-hour hearing in dependency cases, stating the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearing and the right to counsel, shall be given to the parent or parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian if he or she can be found. Nothing in this rule is intended to prevent the court from proceeding when a person required to receive notice as prescribed herein cannot be found. (C) Notices of Other Hearings. Except for detention, shelter-care, and 72hour hearings, written notice of all hearings and hearings on the merits of the petition as otherwise provided in this rule shall be provided to all parties in the proceedings, and such notice shall include the date, time, place, and purpose of the hearings. (D) Notices to Foster Parents, Preadoptive Parents, and Relative Caregivers. The juvenile court shall ensure that foster parents, preadoptive parents, and relative caregivers of a child in foster care under the responsibility of the State are notified, orally or in writing, of the date, time, and place of any juvenile court proceeding to be held with respect to a child in their care. [Amended eff. 5-1-94; Amended eff. 6-22-2007; Amended eff. 2-1-2008; Amended eff. 1-9-2009; Amended 7-14-2011, eff. 10-1-2011; Amended 5-12014, eff. 7-1-2014; Amended 10-23-2020, eff. 2-1-2021.] Comment Notice by publication, when personal service cannot be effected, is not provided for in most juvenile cases. Effectiveness of this notice must be balanced against the necessity for immediacy of the hearing and the requirement of confidentiality of juvenile court proceedings. Rule 27 provides modification procedure when a party has not been served personally or by publication. Rule 23(B) provides for a waiver of the right to notice of the hearing. See also § 12-15-53(e), Ala. Code 1975, providing for a waiver of service of summons. [Comment amended eff. 5-1-94.] Comment to Rule 13(E) Adopted effective June 22, 2007 Subsection (E) was added to comply with 42 U.S.C. § 629h(b)(1), which conditions funding for the Alabama Court Improvement Program grant for fiscal year 2007 on the requirement that the Supreme Court have in effect a rule requiring state courts to ensure that foster parents, pre-adoptive parents, and relative caregivers of a child in foster care under the responsibility of the State are notified of any proceeding to be held with respect to the child. The language in subsection (E) was taken verbatim from 42 U.S.C. § 629h(b)(1). Comment to Amendment to Rule 13 Effective February 1, 2008