Etzkorn v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., 2017 Ark. App. 190

Children T.E. and A.E. were removed in May 2015 after a domestic-violence incident, appellant's arrest, and a home found in unsanitary, cluttered condition; children had two prior protective-services cases.
Appellant Gregory Etzkorn was adjudicated for physical abuse of his girlfriend and had a recent suspended sentence for methamphetamine-related convictions.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) implemented a case plan requiring counseling, parenting classes, psychological evaluation, drug-and-alcohol assessment, and anger-management classes.
Over the case period appellant visited the children only about four times (last in late 2015), displayed disruptive behavior, and failed to complete key ordered services; he later tested positive for methamphetamine at the termination hearing.
Trial evidence included recent photographs showing the home remained in poor condition; the caseworker testified the children were likely to be adopted.
The trial court found four statutory grounds for termination (including failure-to-remedy under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(i)(a)) and that termination was in the children’s best interest; parental rights were terminated.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether DHS proved statutory grounds for termination (failure to remedy) by clear and convincing evidence	DHS: Conditions causing removal persisted 12+ months despite meaningful rehabilitation efforts	Etzkorn: Arguably contested progress and compliance with services	Held: Court found failure-to-remedy established; conditions not remedied despite DHS efforts
Whether termination was in children's best interest	DHS: Children likely to be adopted; returning to Etzkorn would cause harm	Etzkorn: Claimed home was "pretty clean," denied abuse and anger issues	Held: Termination in children's best interest given adoption likelihood, drug use, lack of progress/visits
Whether trial court's credibility and factual findings were clearly erroneous on review	DHS: Trial court credibility determinations supported by testimony, photos, drug test	Etzkorn: Implicit challenge to credibility and factual findings	Held: On de novo review with due regard to trial court's credibility assessments, findings not clearly erroneous
Whether counsel may file a no-merit brief and be relieved on appeal	Appellant's counsel: No-merit under Linker-Flores and Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9(i)	Etzkorn: No pro se points filed contesting counsel's brief	Held: Court agreed appeal wholly without merit; granted counsel's motion to withdraw

Linker-Flores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004) (procedure and standards for no-merit appeals in parental-rights cases)
Jessup v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 385 S.W.3d 304 (2011) (standard of review and burden of proof in termination-of-parental-rights appeals)