1. (1) Upon the filing of a motion to terminate the parent-child legal relationship, the court shall make a finding, subject to the procedures described in section 19-1.2-107 (2) and (3), regarding whether there is reason to know that the child is an Indian child.

2. (2)

   1. (a) If there is a finding that there is reason to know that the child is an Indian child, in addition to the statutory criteria outlined in section 19-3-604 and part 1 of article 5 of this title 19, the court shall make findings, supported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, including the testimony of one or more qualified expert witnesses, that the parents' continued custody of the Indian child is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child.

   2. (b) The court may not enter an order terminating parental rights of an Indian child unless:

      1. (I) The court has offered the parties the opportunity to participate in mediation;
      2. (II) Active efforts to reunite the Indian family did not eliminate the necessity for termination based on serious emotional or physical damage to the Indian child; and
      3. (III) The court has considered and eliminated any less drastic alternatives to termination, including, but not limited to, allocation of parental responsibilities, guardianship, and tribal customary adoption.
3. (3) The evidence required pursuant to this section must show a causal relationship between the particular conditions in the Indian child's home and the likelihood that continued custody of the Indian child by the Indian child's parent or parents will result in serious emotional or physical damage to the particular Indian child who is the subject of the child custody proceeding. Evidence that shows the existence of community or family poverty, isolation, single parenthood, custodian age, crowded or inadequate housing, substance abuse, or nonconforming social behavior does not, by itself, establish a causal relationship as required by this section.
4. (4) A petitioning or filing party filing a motion to terminate parental rights of an Indian child shall document in the motion what efforts have been made to explore tribal customary adoption pursuant to section 19-1.2-124.
5. (5) If requested by the tribe, the termination order must include a provision that the petitioning or filing party maintain connections between the Indian child and the Indian child's tribe.
6. (6) The rights of one parent may be terminated without affecting the rights of the other parent.

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