A10-1274 In the Best Interest of: M. R. P.-C., Minor Child.
In re the Matter of: Kathryn Michelle Pollard, et al., petitioners, Respondents, vs. Faye Michelle Crowghost, co-respondent, Appellant; Anthony Patrick Pollard, Co-Respondent.
Dakota County District Court, Hon. Judge Rex D. Stacey.
The district court has an affirmative obligation to inquire into whether the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) applies to a custody determination when the facts suggest that the subject child may be an Indian child as defined by 25 U.S.C. § 1903(4) (2006).
Reversed and remanded. Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks.
A10-1390 In the Matter of the Welfare of the Child of: R. S. and L. S., Parents.
Fillmore County District Court, Hon. Robert R. Benson.
I. The transfer-of-jurisdiction provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1911(b) (2006), and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act, Minn. Stat. § 260.771, subd. 3 (2010), do not authorize or prohibit the juvenile court’s transfer to tribal court of a preadoptive-placement proceeding involving an Indian child who is not domiciled or residing within the tribal reservation.
II. Minnesota Rule of Juvenile Protection Procedure 48.01, subdivision 3, permits the juvenile court to transfer to tribal court a preadoptive-placement proceeding involving an Indian child who is not domiciled or residing within the tribal reservation.
Affirmed. Judge Natalie E. Hudson.
Turtle Talk 
This case is part of a series of cases in Minnesota where the Guardian Ad Litem has brought the challenge objecting to a requested transfer to tribal court jurisdiction. The strategy in Minnesota is that the County Social Services Agency and the GAL object to the transfer. The primary driving force of these cases seems to be the economic welfare of the local counties. The counties want permanent placement as soon as practicable under the Minnesota Statutes to access the federal IV D entitlement funds. Most tribal courts terminate parental rights as a last resort and this results in local counties having more financial liability for a longer period of time. The result being that children achieve permanency sooner, but at what cost.