Kimberly Brahler Barnes v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child

2025 Ark. App. 559
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 19, 2025
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 Ark. App. 559 (Kimberly Brahler Barnes v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kimberly Brahler Barnes v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child, 2025 Ark. App. 559 (Ark. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Cite as 2025 Ark. App. 559 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION II No. CV-25-411

KIMBERLY BRAHLER BARNES Opinion Delivered November 19, 2025

APPELLANT APPEAL FROM THE LOGAN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, V. SOUTHERN DISTRICT [NO. 42BJV-23-25] ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND MINOR HONORABLE TERRY SULLIVAN, CHILD JUDGE APPELLEES AFFIRMED

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge

This is an appeal from the April 17, 2025 order of the Logan County Circuit Court

terminating the parental rights of Kimberly Brahler Barnes to her daughter (“MC”).1

Kimberly challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the circuit court’s specific

findings regarding the three statutory grounds and the best-interest analysis. We affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural History

The case originated on September 22, 2023, when the Arkansas Department of

Human Services (“DHS”) exercised emergency custody of MC due to abandonment, abuse,

neglect, and parental unfitness. Specifically, DHS placed a hold on MC after her legal

1 MC’s date of birth is May 1, 2009. Kimberly is MC’s biological mother, and her biological father is Jefferson Springer, who was reported deceased at the start of the case. guardian (maternal aunt Pamela Keeter) refused to pick her up from an acute stay following

a violent incident between MC, Pamela, and Pamela’s daughter.2 MC’s guardianship was

established in 2017 through a voluntary placement by Kimberly during a time when

Kimberly was addressing domestic-violence concerns in her home concerning MC’s safety.3

On September 25, DHS filed a petition for dependency-neglect and emergency

custody of MC pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-27-303 (Supp. 2023), and

on the next day, the circuit court entered an ex parte order for emergency custody. On

September 28, the court filed a probable-cause order wherein it found that probable cause

existed for the emergency order to remain in place and warranted MC’s placement in foster

care pending further hearings. The court also found that there should be no contact between

MC and Kimberly. Additionally, the court ordered Kimberly submit to a psychological

evaluation.

On October 11, Pamela filed a petition in the juvenile court to dissolve the

guardianship that had been put into place on June 5, 2017, because MC’s custody had been

2 On September 8, a referral was made to the hotline for allegations of choking and bruising injuries to MC that had occurred in Pamela’s home. The report stated that Pamela’s older daughter had choked MC and given her two black eyes and that Pamela had been “mean” to MC, slapping her in the face with an open hand. The police responded, and MC was first placed with her uncle before voluntarily entering a youth shelter. When MC wanted to leave the shelter a couple of weeks later, Pamela would not answer DHS’s messages and refused all responsibility for MC. 3 The record shows that Kimberly and MC were at continual risk of harm from Springer before his death in 2019, which prompted MC’s placement with Pamela.

2 placed with DHS, and there were ongoing efforts to reunify MC with Kimberly (despite the

no-contact order obtained by Pamela remaining in effect).

On November 7, the circuit court held an adjudication hearing and made a

dependency-neglect finding based on dependency. The court also ordered that the case goal

be reunification. Additionally, it ordered Kimberly to follow the case plan and orders of the

court—specifically, to submit to a psychological evaluation; participate in individual and

family counseling; submit to random drug screens; obtain and maintain appropriate housing

and transportation; complete parenting classes; and watch the video The Clock is Ticking.

Further, the court modified the no-contact order between Kimberly and MC to allow contact

if strictly supervised by DHS and dismissed Pamela from the case.

On November 27, Kimberly filed an affidavit stating that (1) DHS had the results of

her psychological evaluation; (2) she was stable; (3) her housing was deemed appropriate by

DHS—a house she had maintained for at least four years; (4) she had a reliable and insured

vehicle; (5) she did not contribute to MC’s removal; (6) she had yet to visit with MC; and (7)

her rights were being violated because there had been no finding of unfitness made or

evidence presented that would support a finding of unfitness. She requested the return of

custody of MC and for the case to be closed. DHS responded, citing the guardianship orders

placed by the juvenile division and alleging that those orders had found Kimberly to be unfit

when they were entered six years earlier.

On December 11, Kimberly filed another petition seeking to modify custody and

close the case. She included a lengthy explanation of the history of the guardianship and

3 provided a list of case numbers and dispositions that had been resolved in her favor along

with her efforts to obtain custody of MC after DHS had become involved. In her efforts to

refute DHS’s misunderstanding of her legal history and its position that she was unfit,

Kimberly included documentary evidence supporting her claims as well as a handwritten

note from MC in which MC stated that nobody had talked to her about her wishes when

she was placed in foster care and that she “desperately” wanted to go home to her mother.

Notably, Kimberly provided the results of the psychological evaluation she had undergone

after MC’s placement in foster care that was absent of any findings contrary to healthy

parenting.

On February 6, 2024, the circuit court held a first review hearing and noted in the

subsequently entered order that the hearing was “very contentious.” The court ordered that

the case plan goal remain reunification and that MC remain in the custody of DHS. The

court also found that Kimberly was not credible in her testimony; had not cooperated with

DHS and her counselor; and had provided MC with clothes that included a vape.

Additionally, the court ordered no contact between Kimberly and MC unless it was

supervised by DHS. The court ordered her to “get with the program” and “work with her

counselor and DHS on her services.”

On August 6, the court held a second review hearing in which it continued the goal

of reunification and ordered that MC remain in DHS’s custody. The court found that

Kimberly’s drug-screen results were “troubling,” even though the order contained no

indication as to the results. The court noted that it had entered into evidence a multitude of

4 guidance-center records as well as random drug screens but made no mention of any positive

results, just a failure to produce a urine sample that day. The court further noted a text

message between Kimberly and MC regarding a “funeral,” and characterized the message as

“not appropriate parenting.”4 The court stated that if there were any more inappropriate text

messages, DHS could stop further visitation. The court recognized that MC is “happy where

she is” and continued to require strict supervision during visits.

On October 15, the court attempted to hold a third review hearing; however, because

Kimberly was ill, it was cut short, and the court ordered the parties to facilitation—similar to

mediation. In its resulting order, the court ordered the goal to remain reunification but

stated that DHS could file a petition to terminate parental rights (“TPR”) at any time and

ordered MC to remain in DHS’s custody.

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