Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Collier

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) petitions this court for a writ of prohibition or, in the alternative, for a writ of certiorari, vacating Faulkner County Circuit Judge Linda R Collier’s order in which she declared an unborn fetus to be dependent-neglected and placed the fetus in DHS’s custody. The court further mandated that DHS pay the cost of the mother’s prenatal care. The sole ground for DHS’s petition is that the circuit court was without subject-matter jurisdiction to enter its order or, alternatively, that Judge Collier exceeded her jurisdiction…