## Facts

- Tribal police charged Mike Bell, a Native American juvenile, with felony theft to be heard in the juvenile division of the Fort Peck tribal court.
- At the initial hearing, the judge orally advised Mike and his mother, Deb’e Bell, that Mike had the right to: (1) present evidence, (2) call witnesses, (3) question witnesses, (4) obtain counsel at his own expense, and (5) attend the hearing.
- Mike and Deb’e were served with a written summons that listed only the time, date, and place of the hearing.
- The summons did not provide written notice of the rights listed in the judge’s oral advisement.
- Mike appeared at the adjudicatory hearing without counsel.
- The prosecution presented witness testimony; Mike presented no witnesses or evidence.
- The juvenile court found Mike guilty of felony theft and ordered a 90-day term in juvenile detention.
- Mike appealed, arguing Title V, § 305(b) of the Fort Peck Tribes Comprehensive Code of Justice required written notice of rights and that the lack of written notice contributed to his failure to present an effective defense.

## Issues

1. Whether Title V, § 305(b) of the Fort Peck Tribes Comprehensive Code of Justice requires written notice of a juvenile’s procedural rights, such that an oral advisement and a summons listing only hearing logistics are not enough.
2. If written notice was required, whether the failure to provide it requires setting aside the delinquency adjudication and disposition.

## Decision

- The reviewing court set aside the delinquency adjudication and the 90-day detention disposition.
- The court concluded that the juvenile code’s notice provision required written notice of the specified rights, not merely an oral advisement.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the code’s written-notice requirement.

## Legal Principles

- When a juvenile code states that specified rights must be given by written notice, a court must provide a writing that communicates those rights; oral advisement does not substitute for the required written notice.
- A summons that provides only the time, date, and place of a hearing does not satisfy a statutory requirement to give written notice of procedural rights.
- In juvenile delinquency proceedings, failure to provide the form of notice required by the governing code can invalidate an adjudication and disposition and require remand for proceedings that comply with the code.

## Conclusion

In re Bell set aside a juvenile felony-theft delinquency finding and 90-day detention order because the Fort Peck Tribes’ juvenile code required written notice of specified rights, and the juvenile received only an oral advisement plus a summons limited to hearing logistics; the matter was remanded for proceedings consistent with the written-notice requirement.


In re Bell, 3 Am. Tribal Law 305 (2001)