Rivera v. Orange County Probation Department (In Re Rivera)

Introduction

We must decide whether a mother’s debt to Orange County arising from her son’s involuntary juvenile detention is a “domestic support obligation” and thus excepted from discharge in bankruptcy. We conclude that it is not.

Factual Background

Appellant Maria Rivera is the mother of a minor who was held in juvenile detention in Orange County for more than a year, from 2008-2010. Upon her son’s release, the County Probation Department sent Rivera a bill.

California law makes the parents of juvenile detainees “liable for, the reasonable costs of support of the minor while the minor is” held in detention. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 903 (a). A county may seek reimbursement under § 903 only “for food and food preparation, clothing, personal supplies, and medical expenses,” id., and the statute imposes a cap of $30 per day. § 903(c). Within those constraints, the statute limits the bill to the parents’ “ability to pay” at the time the debt is imposed. Id.

As a result, Rivera’s bill did not cover the entire cost to the County of her son’s detention, but it was a large sum nevertheless. The County sought to recover $23.90 from Rivera for each day her son was…