In re Interest of Mekhi S., 309 Neb. 529

2016: State filed juvenile petition alleging mother failed to provide proper care; children adjudicated and placed with DHHS.
Court set permanency objective of legal guardianship for MyJhae and Zaniya and, in 2017, appointed a guardian and expressly retained jurisdiction over the children.
The court conducted guardianship-review hearings under the juvenile docket; DHHS was relieved of care while guardianship was in place.
Sept. 2020: GAL moved to terminate the guardianship; the court terminated it and placed the children back in DHHS custody.
The State then filed a second supplemental petition under § 43-247(8) seeking to reestablish juvenile-court jurisdiction and related orders; the GAL moved to dismiss, arguing the court had never lost jurisdiction.
The juvenile court dismissed the State’s second petition as unnecessary; the State appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the dismissal of the State’s second petition is a final, appealable order affecting a substantial right	The dismissal affected the State’s substantial parens patriae rights and was appealable	Dismissal did not substantially affect the State’s rights because the court never lost jurisdiction; no final appealable order	Dismissal did not substantially affect the State’s rights; appellate court lacks jurisdiction—appeal dismissed
Whether Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-247(8) required the State to file a second petition to reestablish jurisdiction after guardianship termination	§ 43-247(8) required a new petition to reestablish juvenile-court jurisdiction	§ 43-1312.01(3) and existing juvenile-court retention of jurisdiction made § 43-247(8) inapplicable; no reestablishment needed	§ 43-247(8) is for situations where jurisdiction had ended; here the juvenile court had retained jurisdiction, so the second petition was unnecessary

In re Guardianship of Rebecca B. et al., 260 Neb. 922, 621 N.W.2d 289 (2000) (juvenile court retains jurisdiction over a juvenile placed in guardianship)
In re Interest of Noah B. et al., 295 Neb. 764, 891 N.W.2d 109 (2017) (discusses substantial-rights/finality standard and State’s parens patriae interest in juvenile proceedings)
Deines v. Essex Corp., 293 Neb. 577, 879 N.W.2d 30 (2016) (finality requires the order affect rights with finality)
In re Interest of Zachary B., 299 Neb. 187, 907 N.W.2d 311 (2018) (jurisdictional questions without factual disputes are reviewed as questions of law)
In re Interest of Brianna B., 21 Neb. App. 657, 842 N.W.2d 191 (2014) (reasoning that guardianship does not confer the same permanency as parenthood or adoption)
Great Northern Ins. Co. v. Transit Auth. of Omaha, 308 Neb. 916, 958 N.W.2d 378 (2021) (appellate brief/assignment-of-error requirements)