Cabinet for Health & Family v. J.M.G.

OPINION OF THE COURT BY

JUSTICE ABRAMSON

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (“CHFS” or “the Cabinet”) has requested review of an Opinion by a divided panel of the Court of Appeals upholding the Fayette Family Court’s imposition of criminal contempt sanctions against the Cabinet — sanctions in the form of a $2,000 fine. The Family Court deemed sanctionable the Cabinet’s (a social worker’s or social workers’) failure in sibling Dependency, Neglect, and Abuse (DNA) actions (KRS Chapter 620) to file a statutorily mandated report and, in the subsequent Termination of Parental Rights…