§ 14-6-704 — Pending court proceedings

(a) In any involuntary proceeding in a state court where
the court knows or has reason to know that an Indian child is
involved, the party seeking the shelter care placement of, or
termination of parental rights to, an Indian child shall notify
the parent or Indian custodian and the Indian child's tribe, by
registered mail with return receipt requested, of the pending
proceedings and of their right to intervention under this act.
If the identity or location of the parent or Indian custodian
and the tribe cannot be determined, notice shall be given to the
United States secretary of the interior. No shelter care
placement or termination of parental rights proceeding shall be
held until at least ten (10) days after receipt of the notice by
the parent or Indian custodian and the tribe or the secretary of
the interior. A parent, Indian custodian or the tribe shall,
upon request to the state court, be granted not more than twenty
(20) additional days to prepare for a shelter care placement or
parental rights termination proceeding.
(b) In any case in which a state court determines
indigency, the parent or Indian custodian shall have the right
to court-appointed counsel in any shelter care placement or
termination proceeding. The court may, in its discretion,
appoint counsel for the child upon a finding that the
appointment is in the child's best interests.
(c) Each party to a shelter care placement or termination
of parental rights proceeding under state law involving an
Indian child shall have the right to examine all reports or
other documents filed with the court upon which any decision
with respect to the action may be based.
(d) Any party seeking to establish a shelter care
placement of, or termination of parental rights to, an Indian
child under state law shall establish to the court's
satisfaction that active efforts have been made to provide
remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to
prevent the breakup of the Indian family and that these efforts
have proved unsuccessful.
(e) No shelter care placement of an Indian child shall be
ordered in a proceeding unless the court determines by clear and
convincing evidence that the continued custody of the child by
the parent or Indian custodian is likely to result in serious
emotional or physical damage to the child.
(f) No termination of parental rights over an Indian child
shall be ordered unless the court determines beyond a reasonable
doubt that the continued custody of the child by the parent or
Indian custodian is likely to result in serious emotional or
physical damage to the child.
(g) For purposes of subsections (e) and (f) of this
section, the testimony of qualified expert witnesses may be used
to meet the evidentiary burden specified in those subsections.