## Facts

- The State filed a neglect petition, and the juvenile court adjudicated Tavian B. under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(3)(a) and placed him in the custody of Nebraska DHHS.
- Notice under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was sent to the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which received notice in August 2013.
- In October 2014, the State moved to terminate both parents’ rights; the Tribe received notice of the termination petition in November 2014.
- In December 2014, Tavian’s father, Joseph B., testified he had recently enrolled in the Oglala Sioux Tribe; the Tribe moved to intervene, and the father moved to transfer the case to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Juvenile Court, which accepted jurisdiction.
- The juvenile court denied the first transfer request because proof of tribal enrollment and ICWA applicability had not been provided.
- The father renewed the motion to transfer; at a January 2015 hearing, enrollment certificates were admitted and the juvenile court found ICWA applied.
- The State withdrew its termination motion but objected to transfer, arguing “good cause” existed to deny transfer because the case was at an “advanced stage.”
- The juvenile court denied transfer on the “advanced stage” rationale, and the father appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the juvenile court abused its discretion under 25 U.S.C. § 1911(b) by finding “good cause” not to transfer an ICWA child-custody proceeding to tribal court based on the case being at an “advanced stage.”
2. Whether the juvenile court’s handling of the transfer motion violated the father’s procedural due process rights.

## Decision

- The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the order denying transfer and remanded with instructions to grant the motion to transfer jurisdiction to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Juvenile Court.
- The court held the State failed to carry its burden to prove “good cause” not to transfer.
- The juvenile court abused its discretion because treating the case as “advanced” was untenable on this record, particularly after the termination motion was withdrawn.
- The court did not grant separate relief on due process grounds because reversal and remand for transfer provided the requested remedy.

## Legal Principles

- Under ICWA, 25 U.S.C. § 1911(b), a state court must transfer a child-custody proceeding involving an Indian child to the tribe’s jurisdiction upon petition by a parent, Indian custodian, or the tribe, absent objection by either parent, declination by the tribal court, or “good cause to the contrary.”
- The party opposing transfer bears the burden of establishing “good cause” not to transfer.
- Denials of ICWA transfer requests are reviewed for abuse of discretion; an abuse occurs when the decision is untenable and unfairly deprives a litigant of a substantial right or a just result.
- “Good cause” must be assessed consistently with ICWA’s federal purposes; generalized state-law concerns about case duration or best interests do not override ICWA’s jurisdictional preference for tribal forums.
- Reliance on an “advanced stage of the proceeding” requires a record-based showing that the posture of the case genuinely warrants denying transfer; where termination litigation is not pending and ICWA applicability was only later verified, “advanced stage” does not establish good cause.

## Conclusion

The Nebraska Supreme Court enforced ICWA’s presumption favoring tribal jurisdiction by holding that the State did not prove good cause to keep the case in state court and ordering transfer to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Juvenile Court despite the case’s duration and the juvenile court’s “advanced stage” finding.


In re Interest of Tavian B., 292 Neb. 804 (Neb. 2016)