SUMMARY: The juvenile court did not err in denying transfer of the case to tribal court because the case was in its advanced stages (i.e., termination of parental rights), the father did not file the motion to transfer until 2 years into the case, and the juvenile court would have nevertheless retained delinquency case files on two of the children.
Leslie S., Glory S., Crystal S., Iyn C., and Rena C. are the children of mother Kinda S., who is a member of the Omaha Tribe. Iyn C. and Rena C. are the children of Francis, who is also a member of the Omaha Tribe. A 3a petition was filed on July 11, 2006. The Omaha tribe filed a motion to transfer the case to its tribal courts on November 27, 2006, which was denied on January 22, 2007, after the mother objected to the transfer. Since the petition was filed, Leslie and Glory have been involved with delinquency and/or truancy cases, and a 3a petition has been filed on Glory’s child. On October 3, 2008, Francis filed a motion to transfer to tribal court. Prior to the hearing, a termination of parental rights petition was filed. After hearing, the court denied the motion finding that good cause existed to deny the transfer, namely that it retained jurisdiction over the cases of Leslie, Glory and Glory’s child, and that the father delayed filing the motion for two years.
The Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s denial to transfer. It noted that good cause was required under N.R.S. 43-1504(2) to deny transfer and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Guidelines shows good cause existing when “the proceeding was at an advanced stage when the petition to transfer was received and the petitioner did not file the petition promptly after receiving notice of the hearing.” 44 Fed. Reg. 67,584, 67,591. The Court of Appeals held that these circumstances existed in the current case: a termination of parental rights petition was being filed and Francis waited until 2 years into the case to file a motion to transfer.