1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5) of this section, the court shall transfer a child custody proceeding brought pursuant to this article 1.2 that involves an Indian child if, at any time during the proceeding, the Indian child's parent, Indian custodian, or tribe petitions the court to transfer the proceeding to the tribal court, unless good cause is shown to deny the transfer.
2. (2) Upon receipt of a transfer motion, the court shall contact the Indian child's tribe and request a timely response regarding whether the tribe intends to decline the transfer.

3. (3)

   1. (a) If a party objects in writing to the transfer motion, the court shall set a hearing on the objections to the motion. In determining whether there is good cause to deny transfer of jurisdiction to a tribal court, the court shall engage in a fact-specific inquiry, determined on a case-by-case basis as set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
   2. (b) At the hearing, the objecting party has the burden of proof of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that good cause exists to deny the transfer.
   3. (c) If the Indian child's tribe contests the assertion that good cause exists to deny the transfer, the court shall give the tribe's argument substantial weight.

   4. (d) When making a determination whether good cause exists to deny the transfer motion, the court must not consider:

      1. (I) Whether the proceeding is at an advanced stage;
      2. (II) Whether there has been a prior proceeding involving the Indian child in which a transfer motion was not filed;
      3. (III) Whether the transfer could affect the placement of the Indian child;
      4. (IV) The Indian child's cultural connections with the tribe or the tribe's reservation;
      5. (V) The socioeconomic conditions of the Indian child's tribe or any negative perception of the tribe's or the federal bureau of Indian affairs's social services or judicial systems; or
      6. (VI) Whether the transfer serves the best interests of the Indian child.

4. (4) Absent extraordinary circumstances, good cause to deny transfer to a tribal court must be based on one or both of the following factors:

   1. (a) The Indian child's tribe does not have a tribal court or any other administrative body that is vested with authority over child custody proceedings to which the case can be transferred, and no other tribal court has been designated by the Indian child's tribe to hear child custody proceedings; or
   2. (b) The evidence necessary to decide the case could not be adequately presented in the tribal court without undue hardship to the parties or the witnesses, and the tribal court is unable to mitigate the hardship by any means permitted in the tribal court's rules. Without evidence of undue hardship, travel distance alone is not a basis for denying a transfer motion.

5. (5)

   1. (a) The court shall deny the transfer motion if:

      1. (I) The tribe declines the transfer in writing or orally on the record;
      2. (II) One of the Indian child's parents objects to the transfer; or
      3. (III) After a hearing, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that good cause exists to deny the transfer.

   2. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (5)(a)(II) of this section, the objection of the Indian child's parent does not preclude the transfer if:

      1. (I) The objecting parent dies or the objecting parent's parental rights are terminated and have not been restored; and
      2. (II) The Indian child's remaining parent, Indian custodian, or tribe files a new transfer motion subsequent to the death or termination of parental rights of the objecting parent.
6. (6) If the court denies a transfer motion pursuant to this section, the court shall document the basis for the denial in a written order.

Source: L. 2025: Entire article added, (HB 25-1204), ch. 338, p. 1804, § 2, effective August 6.