Juvenile Officer v. T.R.E., 525 S.W.3d 162

Mother appeals a circuit court termination of parental rights to G.M.G. under §211.447.5(1) (abandonment) and §211.447.5(3) (failure to rectify) following a related neglect proceeding.
The Missouri Division of Social Services had temporary custody of G.M.G. after Mother requested placement in 2012.
Mother repeatedly waived counsel in the neglect proceedings, with counsel appointed only late in the process and then removed from one dispositional hearing.
The underlying neglect case proceeded without Mother’s counsel at key hearings, but she later obtained counsel in a separate termination action.
In 2016, the circuit court terminated Mother’s parental rights after finding abandonment and failure to rectify, leading to this appeal.
The court applied Murphy v. Carron review and held no plain error regarding appointment of counsel in the underlying custody proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court plainly erred in not appointing counsel for Mother.	Mother argues lack of counsel violated §211.211.	Mother repeatedly waived counsel or the court found counsel unnecessary for a full and fair hearing.	No plain error; trial court did not plainly err.

Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30 (Mo. banc 1976) (standard for reviewing circuit court judgments)
In re Adoption of C.M.B.R., 332 S.W.3d 793 (Mo. banc 2011) (plain error review for preserved/unpreserved issues)
In re C.F., & A.K., 340 S.W.3d 296 (Mo. App. E.D. 2011) (termination of parental rights with representation considerations)
In re Baby Girl W., 728 S.W.2d 545 (Mo. App. W.D. 1987) (strict compliance in termination cases)
In the Interest of G.E.R. v. B.R., 441 S.W.3d 190 (Mo. App. W.D. 2014) (close review of termination decisions)
Ivie v. Smith, 439 S.W.3d 189 (Mo. banc 2014) (uniform standard across court-tried cases)
In re R.S.L., 241 S.W.3d 346 (Mo. App. W.D. 2007) (plain error considerations for juvenile proceedings)