In re D.J.Y., __ N.C.App. __

Facts: The juvenile petition did not contain information in the section titled “decision of court counselor regarding the filing of the petition.” The boxes contained in that section, providing a checkbox to indicate approval for filing and space for the court counselor’s signature, were blank. The juvenile was adjudicated delinquent and disposition was ordered on the same day, without the court counselor in attendance.

Opinion: The Juvenile Code requires an intake process with the juvenile court counselor and that the juvenile court counselor approve the petition for filing. The petition must include the words “approved for filing” and the juvenile court counselor must sign it. The juvenile court counselor’s approval for filing is a jurisdictional prerequisite (In re T.K., 253 N.C. App. 443, 448 (2017)). The petition in this matter was fatally deficient because there was no box checked indicating that the petition was approved for filing and there was no signature of a juvenile court counselor in this section of the petition. The petition therefore failed to vest subject matter jurisdiction in the court. A signature in the verification section of the petition and the fact that the juvenile court counselor provided a report at disposition do not cure the defect in the petition.