In Re the Welfare of S.L.J.

782 N.W.2d 549, 2010 Minn. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 1933691
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMay 14, 2010
DocketA09-80
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 782 N.W.2d 549 (In Re the Welfare of S.L.J.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Welfare of S.L.J., 782 N.W.2d 549, 2010 Minn. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 1933691 (Mich. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

MAGNUSON, Chief Justice.

We are asked to decide whether the district court erred in appointing private counsel at county expense, rather than a public defender at state expense, for the parent in this juvenile-protection case, who must be provided counsel under the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1912(b) (2006). The court of appeals affirmed the appointment of private counsel for the parent in this case and further held that the cost of private counsel appointed for the parent is a county obligation. We affirm the court of appeals. 1

In June 2008, the Minnesota State Board of Public Defense resolved to discontinue representation of parents, custodians, and guardians in juvenile protection proceedings, effective July 8, 2008. On July 22, 2008, in response to the action by the State Board of Public Defense, the Rice County Board of Commissioners voted not to pay for representation of qualified parents in child-protection or termination-of-parental-rights cases in 2008 and future years.

In September 2008, appellant Rice County petitioned to terminate the parental rights of S.L.J. to her newborn child. Both mother and child are eligible for membership in the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma. The district court appointed respondent Grant D. Sanders, a lawyer in private practice, to represent S.L.J. and ordered Rice County to pay Sanders’ attorney fees. When Sanders’ first invoices were not paid, the court ordered Rice County to pay Sanders the sum of $4,000 by December 30, 2008, or appear (in the persons of the county auditor and all mem *552 bers of the county board) to show cause why Rice County should not be held in contempt.

In response to the order to show cause, Rice County argued that because S.L.J. is eligible for membership in the Wyandotte Nation, and is therefore entitled to representation under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. § 1912(b), Minn. Stat. § 611.16 (2008) required that a public defender, rather than private counsel, be appointed for her. Rice County further argued that Minn.Stat. § 611.27, subd. 7 (2008), limits the state’s responsibility for public defender services to the appropriations made to the Minnesota Board of Public Defense, and therefore the obligation to pay the fees of a lawyer appointed for S.L.J. was the sole responsibility of the state. Furthermore, Rice County argued that under MinmStat. § 375.1691 (2008), it could not be ordered to pay Sanders’ fees because Rice County had not approved such payment and Rice County’s budget had not allocated funds to do so. Rice County argued that because its failure to pay Sanders’ fees was statutorily authorized, it was therefore acting in accordance with the law and could not be held in civil contempt.

Although the limited record before us does not include a transcript of the show-cause hearing, it appears that the parties agreed that the district court’s order to show cause would be deemed a writ of mandamus instead. Following the hearing, the court issued a peremptory writ of mandamus that obligated Rice County: to pay Sanders $4,000 for legal services rendered to S.L.J. through the end of November 2008; to pay Sanders’ future invoices within ten days of court approval; and to “approve a system for payment of costs for representing indigent parents in future juvenile protection cases during the budget year 2009, by no later than February 16, 2009.” The court concluded that it had “the authority, but not the duty, to appoint Public Defenders to represent parents in Juvenile protection proceedings.” However, “given the significant financial and personnel pressures that are already being addressed by the State Board of Public Defense,” the court declined to exercise its discretion to compel the public defender to represent S.L.J.

The district court further concluded that Minn.Stat. § 375.1691 should be interpreted to give Rice County “no discretion with respect to paying the fees for court-appointed counsel” if the request is submitted to the County before the adoption of its next annual budget. The court noted that the Rice County District Court Administrator had submitted a budget request to the county board in July 2008 for $180,000 for fees of counsel appointed to represent indigent parents in juvenile protection cases, which the county board had denied. Because Rice County had a clear duty to pay, and because Sanders had no other adequate remedy, the district court concluded that mandamus was an appropriate remedy.

Upon Rice County’s appeal, the court of appeals affirmed the district court’s order requiring Rice County to pay Sanders’ outstanding and future invoices. In re Welfare of Child of S.L.J. (S.L.J.), 772 N.W.2d 833, 844 (Minn.App.2009). The court concluded that Minn.Stat. § 611.16 was ambiguous and, in the context of the remainder of Minn.Stat. ch. 611 and its legislative history, should be read to limit the right to a public defender to only “persons who are parties to criminal cases.” See S.L.J., 772 N.W.2d at 840. Therefore, the court of appeals concluded that the district court had not erred in appointing private counsel for S.L.J. Mat 842.

The court of appeals further concluded that under Minn.Stat. § 260C.331, subd. *553 3(4) (2008), responsibility for paying Sanders’ fees fell to the county. S.L.J., 772 N.W.2d at 842. The court rejected Rice County’s argument that under Minn.Stat. § 375.1691 it could not be required to pay Sanders if the county board never approved the payment; the court agreed with the district court that Rice County was obligated to pay Sanders in 2009 “regardless [of] whether the county board has budgeted for the expense.” S.L.J., 772 N.W.2d at 843-44. However, the court of appeals reversed, as beyond the district court’s authority, the requirement that Rice County approve funding for representation of indigent parents in child-protection and termination-of-parental-rights cases in the future. 2 Id. at 845. We granted Rice County’s petition for review of the district court’s writ of mandamus and denied Sanders’ petition for cross-review as to payment of his fees in the future.

I.

Mandamus “lies to compel a governmental body or board to perform a duty [that] the law clearly and positively requires” and “where there is no other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy available.” Int 'l Union of Operating Eng’rs, Local No. 49 v. City of Minneapolis, 305 Minn. 364, 374, 233 N.W.2d 748, 754-55 (1975). Mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, issued upon equitable principles in the exercise of sound judicial discretion. Nationwide Corp. v. Northwestern Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 251 Minn. 255, 265, 87 N.W.2d 671, 679-80 (1958).

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Bluebook (online)
782 N.W.2d 549, 2010 Minn. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 1933691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-welfare-of-slj-minn-2010.