In the Juvenile Court, it makes no difference whether the petition is private or brought by the State, when it comes to a parent having representation. The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals addresses this issue in L.S.H. v. T.J and L.J. In this case the Court of Civil Appeals determined that Ala. Code § 12-15-305(b) does not differentiate between petitions that are private or brought on behalf of the State.
In this case, the mother, L.S.H., originally obtained counsel, but her counsel withdrew from the case because they relocated to a different state. She then received counsel, but that attorney later withdrew because the mother could no longer afford to pay them. At this point, the mother filed an affidavit of substantial hardship to obtain appointed counsel from the Juvenile Court. The Juvenile Court denied this because it believed that it was not required to appoint counsel to parents, even if there was substantial hardship, for petitions filed privately. The Juvenile Court later held a hearing, where the mother was unrepresented and found that the child was dependent thus awarding custody of the child to grandparents.
The mother appealed this decision to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals claiming that the court violated her statutory rights by not appointing representation for her.
Ala. Code § 12-15-305(b) states:
“In dependency and termination of parental right cases, the respondent parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian shall be informed of his or her right to be represented by counsel and, if the juvenile court determines that he or she is indigent, counsel shall be appointed where the respondent parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian is unable for financial reasons to retain his or her own counsel.”
Here, the mother was not able to afford an attorney. The court saw this when the mother’s attorney withdrew because she could not afford to retain counsel. Further, she filed an affidavit of substantial hardship which was ignored by the Juvenile Court. Instead, the Court based their attention to the fact that this was a private petition and failed to see anything else.
The Court of Civil Appeals ultimately determined that it does not matter if it was a private petition or a petition brought on behalf of the State because Ala. Code § 12-15-305(b) does not make any such distinction. The only thing the Juvenile Court ought to consider is if the parent is indigent. If the Juvenile Court finds that the parent seeking representation is indigent, then they must appoint counsel.
The Court of Civil Appeals found that the Juvenile Court failed in this manner and reversed and remanded with instructions.
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Grace Lorimor is a 3L at Jones School of Law and graduates in May. She came to The Adoption Law Firm as an intern in January of 2025. Grace graduated from Indiana University Southeast in 2023 with a B.A. in Political Science and History. After graduating with her J.D., Grace’s hope is to practice family law and help families and children by being their advocate.
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