In re Redacted

13 Am. Tribal Law 263
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Tribal Appellate Court·Decided March 30, 2011·No. No. A-015-0910·Published

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

On September 8, 2010, the Children’s Court Division (Children’s Court), Associate Judge Jenny Lee Kronk presiding, issued an order declining to accept transfer of a state court child custody proceeding involving tribal members [redacted] d.o.b. [redacted] and [redacted], d.o.b. [redacted]. The Children’s Court did not provide notice to the parties or hold a hearing before issuing its Order Declining Transfer. The Tribal Presenting Officer, Matthew Lesky, filed an appeal of the order arguing that the Children’s Court lacked the authority to issue the order. We find that this case is governed by our earlier holding in In the Matter of [redacted], and accordingly, we reverse and remand the lower court’s order, with instructions that the Children’s Court provide notice and hearing for the affected parties and apply Sections V and VI of the LTBB Child Protection Statute in addition to the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Background

The facts of this case have not been developed in the lower court because the lower court did not provide notice to the parties or hold a hearing on the transfer of jurisdiction issue. Consequently, the summary that follows represents the most complete account of relevant undisputed facts that the Appellate Court is able to establish based on statements made in the lower court’s September 8, 2010 order, documents included in the record, and statements made by the Appellant in its brief to the Appellate Court. Where any differences were found in the characterizations of the facts between these three sources, the Appellate Court omits reliance on them in its analysis or specifies the existence of any dispute.

On July 15, 2010, Emmet County Department of Human Services (DHS) removed [redacted], [redacted], and their [redacted] sibling from the care of their mother. Both [redacted] and [redacted] [265]*265are enrolled in the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. At the time of the removal, the mother was residing at an address in Harbor Springs, Michigan.

On July 16, 2010, a Preliminary Hearing was held before Judge Mulhauser in Em-met County Probate Court. At the conclusion of that hearing, the two tribal children and their [redacted] sibling were placed under the care and supervision of the Em-met County DHS and placed in foster care in the home of a relative.

The Tribal Presenting Officer filed a formal intervention on July 20, 2010. On August 3, 2010, LTBB Social Services completed a pre-transfer report, which was provided to the Child Welfare Commission. On August 6, 2010, the LTBB Child Welfare Commission submitted a formal recommendation to the Tribal Presenting Officer requesting a transfer of jurisdiction to tribal court.

On August 10, 2010, the Tribal Presenting Officer filed a petition with the Emmet County Probate Court requesting a transfer to tribal court. On that same date, the Emmet County Court held an Emergency Removal Hearing and changed the placement of the tribal children and their sibling to an LTBB licensed foster care home. On August 18, 2010, Judge Mulhauser of the Emmet County Court granted the petition to transfer.

On August 20, 2010, the Tribal Presenting Officer filed a petition in the Tribal Court requesting an order to transfer the case from state to tribal court. The petition requested the transfer of the two tribal children only, excluding their [redacted] sibling.

On September 1, 2010, the LTBB Child Welfare Commission filed anew recommendation with the Tribal Court. This new document indicated that the Commission was abandoning its earlier recommendation in support of the transfer. The new recommendation explained that the Commission had “serious concerns” about a potential separation of the sibling group that might occur if proceedings for the two tribal member siblings were transferred to tribal court without the transfer of proceedings for the third [redacted] sibling. This concern led the Commission to shift its recommendation to one that advocated that the Tribe intervene in the state court case without transfer of the case to the Tribal Court.

On September 8, 2010, without providing advance notice to the affected parties and without holding a hearing, the Tribal Court issued an order declining to accept transfer of the case. In support of its decision to decline transfer, the Tribal Court cited Section 1911(b) of the Indian Child Welfare Act as its sole legal authority. The Tribal Court also supported its decision by explaining the potential harm that [redacted] and [redacted] might suffer if the case were to be bifurcated from their [redacted] sibling’s case in state court.

On September 15, 2010, the Tribal Presenting Officer filed a timely Notice of Appeal requesting that the Appellate Court reverse the decision of the lower court and order that the transfer be granted. The Notice of Appeal stated that the tribal court erred by a) not holding a hearing prior to declining the transfer of jurisdiction; b) failing to apply the tribal law provision of WOS 2009-004, § V(C)(2) to its analysis; and c) improperly construing 25 U.S.C. § 1911(b) of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as a source of authority for declining to accept the transfer of the case.

On January 12 and 13, 2011, the Appellate Court received a Statement of Position from the biological mother and father of [redacted] and [redacted]. The father stated that he had indicated in the state [266]*266court proceeding that he agreed to and desired that the case involving [redacted] and [redacted] be transferred to the tribal court. He confirmed that it remained his desire and legal position that the case should be transferred to the tribal court for the reasons stated by the Appellant. The mother stated that she believed that it would be in the best interests of her children to have all three children’s cases transferred to the jurisdiction of the tribal court. She stated that she does not want her children to be separated from each other by way of separate placements, and she concluded that she is therefore conflicted about the issue of transferring jurisdiction over the case involving [redacted] and [redacted] to tribal court.

Analysis

The Appellate Court begins its analysis by considering whether the Tribal Court was required to give notice to all of the interested parties and hold a hearing prior to issuing its order declining to accept transfer of the child welfare proceeding. The Appellate Court concludes that notice and a hearing were required.

In a decision issued on February 9, 2011, the Appellate Court held that:

With only a few exceptions, the Child Protection Statute requires that the Court provide notice to the parties and hold a hearing every time the Court takes any action with respect to a juvenile under the Court’s jurisdiction. Hearings are required when the Court receives a transfer of jurisdiction from state court (Section VI(D)(7)). In the Matter of T.D.S., LTBB Appellate Court Case No. A-014-0410, February 9, 2011 at 5. (Emphasis added).

The Appellate Court also explained that:

The provisions requiring that the Court provide notice and hold a hearing prior to acting indicate that, taken as a whole, the Child Protection Statute requires notice and a hearing at every juncture when the Children’s Court takes action.

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In re Redacted, 13 Am. Tribal Law 263 (odawactapp 2011).

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