The department must set review and monitoring procedures with Indian tribes, and courts must vacate and remand cases for listed violations. In certain improper child-custody cases, the court must decline jurisdiction and immediately return the child unless that would create substantial and immediate danger.
1. The department, in consultation with Indian tribes, shall establish standards and procedures for the department’s review of cases subject to this chapter and methods for monitoring the department’s compliance with provisions of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act and this chapter. These standards and procedures and the monitoring methods shall be integrated into the department’s structure and plan for the federal government’s child and family service review process and any program improvement plan resulting from that process. 2. A court of competent jurisdiction shall vacate a court order and remand the case for appropriate disposition for any of the following violations of this chapter: a. Failure to notify an Indian parent, Indian custodian, or tribe. b. Failure to recognize the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. c. Failure, without cause as specified under this chapter, to transfer jurisdiction to an Indian tribe appropriately seeking transfer. d. Failure to give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, or judicial proceedings of an Indian tribe. e. Failure to allow intervention by an Indian custodian or Indian tribe, or if applicable, an extended family member. f. Failure to return the child to the child’s parent or Indian custodian when removal or placement is no longer necessary to prevent imminent physical damage or harm. g. Failure to provide the testimony of qualified expert witnesses as required by this chapter. h. Any other violation that is not harmless error, including but not limited to a failure to comply with 25 U.S.C. §1911, 1912, 1913, 1915, 1916, or 1917. 3. If a petitioner in an Indian child custody proceeding before a state court has improperly removed the child from the custody of the child’s parent or Indian custodian or has improperly retained custody after a visit or other temporary relinquishment of custody, the court shall decline jurisdiction over the petition and shall immediately return the child to the child’s parent or Indian custodian unless returning the child to the parent or Indian custodian would subject the child to a substantial and immediate danger or threat of such danger. 2003 Acts, ch 153, §15; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §649