232B.3 - DEFINITIONS.
232B.3 DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this chapter unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. "Adoptive placement" means the permanent placement of an
Indian child for adoption including, but not limited to, any action
under chapter 232, 600, or 600A resulting in a final decree of
adoption. "Adoptive placement" does not include a placement
based upon an act by an Indian child which, if committed by an adult,
would be deemed a crime, or upon an award, in a divorce proceeding,
of custody to one of the child's parents.
2. "Best interest of the child" means the use of practices in
accordance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, this chapter,
and other applicable law, that are designed to prevent the Indian
child's voluntary or involuntary out-of-home placement, and whenever
such placement is necessary or ordered, placing the child, to the
greatest extent possible, in a foster home, adoptive placement, or
other type of custodial placement that reflects the unique values of
the child's tribal culture and is best able to assist the child in
establishing, developing, and maintaining a political, cultural, and
social relationship with the Indian child's tribe and tribal
community.
3. "Child custody proceeding" means a voluntary or
involuntary proceeding that may result in an Indian child's adoptive
placement, foster care placement, preadoptive placement, or
termination of parental rights.
4. "Foster care placement" means the temporary placement of
an Indian child in an individual or agency foster care placement or
in the personal custody of a guardian or conservator prior to the
termination of parental rights, from which the child cannot be
returned upon demand to the custody of the parent or Indian custodian
but there has not been a termination of parental rights. "Foster
care placement" does not include a placement based upon an act by
an Indian child which, if committed by an adult, would be deemed a
crime, or upon an award, in a divorce proceeding, of custody to one
of the child's parents.
5. "Indian" means a person who is a member of an Indian
tribe, or is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe, or who is an
Alaska native and a member of a regional corporation as defined in 43
U.S.C. § 1606.
6. "Indian child" or "child" means an unmarried Indian
person who is under eighteen years of age or a child who is under
eighteen years of age that an Indian tribe identifies as a child of
the tribe's community.
7. "Indian child's family" or "extended family member"
means an adult person who is an Indian child's family member or
extended family member under the law or custom of the Indian child's
tribe or, in absence of such law or custom, an adult person who has
any of the following relationships with the Indian child:
a. Parent.
b. Sibling.
c. Grandparent.
d. Aunt or uncle.
e. Cousin.
f. Clan member.
g. Band member.
h. Brother-in-law.
i. Sister-in-law.
j. Niece.
k. Nephew.
l. Stepparent.
8. "Indian child's tribe" means a tribe in which an Indian
child is a member or eligible for membership.
9. "Indian custodian" means an Indian person who under tribal
law, tribal custom, or state law, has legal or temporary physical
custody of an Indian child.
10. "Indian organization" means any of the following entities
that is owned or controlled by Indians, or a majority of the members
are Indians:
a. A group.
b. An association.
c. A partnership.
d. A corporation.
e. Other legal entity.
11. "Indian tribe" or "tribe" means an Indian tribe,
band, nation, or other organized Indian group, or a community of
Indians, including any Alaska native village as defined in 43 U.S.C.
§ 1602(c) recognized as eligible for services provided to Indians by
the United States secretary of the interior because of the community
members' status as Indians.
12. "Parent" means a biological parent of an Indian child or
a person who has lawfully adopted an Indian child, including
adoptions made under tribal law or custom. "Parent" does not
include an unwed father whose paternity has not been acknowledged or
established. Except for purposes of the federal Indian Child Welfare
Act as codified in 25 U.S.C. § 1913(b), (c), and (d), 1916, 1917, and
1951, "parent" does not include a person whose parental rights to
that child have been terminated.
13. "Preadoptive placement" means the temporary placement of
an Indian child in an individual or agency foster care placement
after the termination of parental rights, but prior to or in lieu of
an adoptive placement. "Preadoptive placement" does not include
a placement based upon an act by an Indian child which, if committed
by an adult, would be deemed a crime, or upon an award, in a divorce
proceeding, of custody to one of the child's parents.
14. "Reservation" means Indian country as defined in 18
U.S.C. § 1151 or land that is not covered under that definition but
the title to which is either held by the United States in trust for
the benefit of an Indian tribe or Indian person or held by an Indian
tribe or Indian person subject to a restriction by the United States
against alienation.
15. "Secretary of the interior" means the secretary of the
United States department of the interior.
16. "Termination of parental rights" means any action
resulting in the termination of the parent-child relationship.
"Termination of parental rights" does not include a placement
based upon an act by an Indian child which, if committed by an adult,
would be deemed a crime, or upon an award, in a divorce proceeding,
of custody to one of the child's parents.
17. "Tribal court" means a court or body vested by an Indian
tribe with jurisdiction over child custody proceedings, including but
not limited to a federal court of Indian offenses, a court
established and operated under the code or custom of an Indian tribe,
or an administrative body of an Indian tribe vested with authority
over child custody proceedings. Section History: Recent Form
2003 Acts, ch 153, §4
Referred to in § 232.7, 600.1, 600A.3