The state Department of Human Services’ case of reuniting a 6-year-old child with a legal parent in Mexico will be given another hearing in Marion County Circuit Court this week.

Senate President Peter Courtney, Sen. Jackie Winters and Rep. Vicki Berger, along with Gov. John Kitzhaber, had requested that DHS review the case history after the Statesman Journal broke the story Feb. 23.

Marion County Presiding Judge Jamese Rhoades will hear the case at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Marion County Courthouse, 100 High St. NE.

The Salem-Keizer elementary school student, whose name is being withheld to protect her identity, has been a ward of the courts and in state custody since her biological mother, Gloria Segura, was determined to be unfit to parent due to an ongoing drug addiction.

The girl’s grandparents, Kerrie and Victor Lechuga, had lobbied lawmakers and the governor to intervene and stop the parental reunification, saying the legal father, Alfonso Pantoja was convicted of domestic violence crimes in Oregon and served time in the Oregon State Penitentiary before being deported to Mexico last year.

The Lechugas have criminal backgrounds that took them out of consideration for adoption as well.