Counties must pay the costs of court-appointed attorneys for parents and guardians in CHIPS and termination- of- parental -rights cases, the Supreme Court ruled in two unanimous special releases today. The court also said that the Crow Wing County District Court did not err in holding the county board in contempt for failure to pay the attorney fees of lawyers appointed to represent parents.
The consolidated cases, In the Matter of the Welfare of the Child of S.L.J., and In the Matter of the Welfare of the Children of J.B. and R.P., S.K.J. and J.N.T., S.L.A.J. and B.J.T., Parents, arose after the state’s public defenders ceased representing parents in child protection cases, citing budget constraints. Many counties picked up the tab, but Crow Wing and Rice resisted.
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