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APPEAL
FROM THE PULASKI COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, EIGHTH DIVISION [NO.
60JV-17-620], HONORABLE WILEY A. BRANTON, JR., JUDGE
Leah
Lanford, Arkansas Public Defender Commission, for appellant.
One
brief only.
OPINION
PHILLIP
T. WHITEAKER, Judge
Clint
Kloss appeals a Pulaski County Circuit Court order
terminating his parental rights to his daughters, K.K.1 and
Page 727
K.K.2.[1] Pursuant to Linker-Flores v.
Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131, 194
S.W.3d 739 (2004), and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 6-9(i)
(2018), Klosss counsel has filed a no-merit brief asserting
that there are no issues of arguable merit to support an
appeal and an accompanying motion to be relieved as counsel.
Counsels brief contains an abstract and addendum of the
proceedings below and states that the only rulings adverse to
Kloss were the termination decision and the denial of his
request for additional time to achieve reunification. Counsel
asserts that there was sufficient evidence to support the
termination and that the trial courts denial of additional
time did not constitute reversible error. After carefully
reviewing the record and the no-merit brief, we conclude that
counsels brief adequately addresses all the adverse rulings
and correctly posits that there are no issues of arguable
merit on which to base an appeal.
As
required by Rule 6-9(i)(3), the clerk of our court sent
copies of the brief and the motion to withdraw to Kloss
informing him of his right to file pro se points for
reversal; he has done so. We have reviewed his claims and
hold that they were not raised below; are not preserved for
appeal; or present no meritorious basis for reversal.
Therefore, we affirm.
We
provide the following summary of facts and procedural history
of the case. Sherrie Sinkey and Clint Kloss are the
unmarried, biological parents of K.K.1 and K.K.2. Sinkey and
Kloss were living together with the children in May 2017,
when the Pulaski County Sheriffs office executed a search
warrant on their home. During the execution of the warrant,
the officers found illegal controlled
substances,[2] drug paraphernalia, and stolen
property. As a result, Kloss and Sinkey were arrested on two
counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, maintaining a
drug premises (enhanced), possession of paraphernalia,
possession of a Schedule II substance, and felony theft by
receiving. Following his arrest, Kloss overdosed in the back
of the police vehicle and had to be rushed to the emergency
room. The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS)
responded to take a seventy-two-hour hold on the children.
DHS found the home infested with roaches, and the children
were dirty and covered in bug bites.
In July
2017, the circuit court adjudicated the children
dependent-neglected as a result of parental unfitness, living
in a drug premises, being the subject of a drug raid,
exposure to toxic illegal drugs, and environmental neglect.
The court also found, by clear and convincing evidence, that
both Sinkey and Kloss had subjected the children to
aggravated circumstances based on extreme and multiple risks
of harm.[3] Despite its finding of aggravated
circumstances, the court declined to fast track the case.
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Subsequent to the adjudication, DHS provided services to
Kloss, and the court monitored the services through
appropriate review hearings. Eventually, Kloss was
adjudicated the father and obtained status as a parent at the
permanency-planning hearing on March 27, 2018.
In May
2018, DHS filed a petition to terminate the parental rights
of both Sinkey and Kloss. As to Kloss, DHS alleged three
grounds for termination: (1) failure to remedy as a
noncustodial parent, Ark. Code Ann. §
9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(i)(b); (2) other factors or issues arising
subsequent to adjudication, Ark. Code Ann. §
9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(vii)(a) ; and (3) aggravated circumstances,
Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(ix)(a)(3)(B)(i) . The
court held a hearing on the petition, and ultimately the
trial court terminated Klosss parental rights based on all
three grounds alleged in the petition. The ...