In re B.F.

Respondent appealed from a trial court order granting the State’s petition to terminate respondent’s parental rights. On appeal, respondent argued that the trial court’s findings of unfitness were void because the court lacked personal jurisdiction at the adjudicatory and dispositional phases of the proceedings, that the court’s finding of fitness was against the manifest weight of the evidence, and the court erred in denying respondent’s requests to continue the fitness and best-interest hearings. The appellate court vacated and remanded, finding that the State failed to meet its burden by clear and convincing evidence that respondent was an unfit parent. (STEIGMANN and CAVANAGH, concurring)