Guardianship of Sasse, Matter of

• Decision Date: 25 October 1984
• Docket Number: Nos. 14149,14176 and 14547,s. 14149
• Citation: 363 N.W.2d 209
• Parties: In the Matter of the GUARDIANSHIP OF Alice M. SASSE. . Considered on Briefs
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 209

363 N.W.2d 209

In the Matter of the GUARDIANSHIP OF Alice M. SASSE.

Nos. 14149, 14176 and 14547.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Considered on Briefs Oct. 25, 1984.

Decided Feb. 20, 1985.

Ronald Clabaugh of Bangs, McCullen, Butler, Foye & Simmons, Rapid City, for appellant Lynn E. Sasse (in No. 14149).

Wm. Jason Groves, Rapid City, for appellants Stanley G. Sasse (in No. 14176) and Carl W. Sasse (in No. 14547).

WOLLMAN, Justice.

These are consolidated appeals. # 14149 and # 14176 are an appeal and a notice of review from a judgment entered against Lynn E. Sasse for losses suffered by the guardianship while he was guardian of the person and estate of Alice M. Sasse. # 14547 is an appeal from the judgment vacating the judgment entered in # 14149 and # 14176. We affirm appeal # 14547 and dismiss # 14149 and # 14176.

At all times material herein, Alice M. Sasse, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, owned a ranch in Shannon County, South Dakota, consisting of approximately 7,600 acres of Indian trust land. On August 14, 1976, Alice M. Sasse filed a petition with the circuit court asking that her son, Lynn E. Sasse, be appointed as the guardian of her person and estate. An order so appointing Lynn E. Sasse was entered on September 13, 1976. Letters of guardianship were issued that day and on September 15, 1976, Lynn E. Sasse executed his oath as guardian.

Nothing was filed in the guardianship until May of 1980, when Lynn E. Sasse filed a petition requesting authority to use income from the guardianship property as security for a personal loan. Thereafter, Lynn E. Sasse filed several inventories with respect to the personal property belonging to the guardianship estate. On December 7, 1981, pursuant to an application submitted by Carl W. Sasse and Stanley G. Sasse, two of Alice M. Sasse's six children, an order to show cause was entered requiring, among other things, Lynn E. Sasse to show cause why his letters of guardianship should not be revoked. Following a hearing on December 10, 1981, an order was entered on December 16, 1981, revoking Lynn E. Sasse's letters of guardianship. On February 9, 1982, Stanley G. Sasse and one Ralph W. Barkley were appointed as successor joint guardians. Ralph W. Barkley resigned as guardian effective June 25, 1982. Thereafter, proceedings were had on Stanley G. Sasse's request that Lynn E. Sasse be surcharged for his alleged deficiencies during the time he acted as guardian. These proceedings ultimately resulted in the entry of judgment against Lynn E. Sasse on January 31 1983, in the amount of $77,074.95. It is that judgment from which Lynn E. Sasse appealed in # 14149.

After the appeal was taken to this court from that judgment, Lynn E. Sasse filed a petition asking that the trial court vacate the judgment pursuant to SDCL 15-6-60(b)(4) on the ground that the trial court had no jurisdiction over the subject matter of the underlying action. Following our remand of the appeal, see Menno State Bank v. City of Menno, 297 N.W.2d 460 (S.D.1980), the trial court granted the petition for relief from judgment and the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and dismissed the action. It is from this order that the appeal was taken in # 14547.

Alice M. Sasse was an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. As indicated above, she owned some 7,600 acres of Indian trust land located in Shannon County, South Dakota, which is within the borders of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She also owned some cattle. It was Lynn E. Sasse's alleged failure to make a full and complete accounting of these cattle, as well as of the proceeds of certain lease payments and government farm program payments, that gave rise to the request that he be surcharged.

Alice M. Sasse died on February 24, 1983. On March 3, 1983, Stanley G. Sasse was appointed by the circuit court as special administrator of Alice M. Sasse's estate. On August 6, 1983, Carl W. Sasse filed a petition for letters testamentary with the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court. On October 28, 1983, he received letters of administration with will annexed from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court. Probate proceedings are being conducted in that court, and it is in his capacity as administrator of the Estate of Alice M. Sasse, deceased, that Carl W. Sasse has appealed in # 14547.

Simply put, the question before us is whether the circuit court was without jurisdiction to appoint a guardian of the person and estate of Alice M. Sasse and to thereafter supervise the guardianship. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the trial court lacked such jurisdiction.

In O'Connell v. Hamm, 267 N.W.2d 839 (S.D.1978), we held that our state courts have no subject matter jurisdiction to hear and determine a civil action between enrolled members of an Indian tribe for the creation of a constructive trust, the corpus of which would consist of Indian trust lands. We based our decision upon our earlier holdings in Smith v. Temple, 82 S.D. 650, 152 N.W.2d 547 (1967), and Kain v. Wilson, 83 S.D. 482, 161 N.W.2d 704 (1968), as well as upon the seminal case of Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217, 79 S.Ct. 269, 3 L.Ed.2d 251 (1959).

We conclude that the same considerations that led to our decision in O'Connell v. Hamm are controlling here. As we pointed out in O'Connell, the jurisdictional test set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Williams v. Lee is whether the state court action infringes on the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them. In utilizing this test and in reaching the conclusion that our state courts lacked subject matter jurisdiction, we...