McKenzie County Social Service Bd. v. CG

• Decision Date: 29 August 2001
• Docket Number: No. 20010047.,20010047.
• Citation: 633 N.W.2d 157,2001 ND 151
• Parties: McKENZIE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE BOARD, Plaintiff and Appellant, J.C.Y.B., by and through Michon C. Sax as Guardian ad Litem, and F.H., Plaintiffs, v. C.G., Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

633 N.W.2d 157

2001 ND 151

McKENZIE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE BOARD, Plaintiff and Appellant, J.C.Y.B., by and through Michon C. Sax as Guardian ad Litem, and F.H., Plaintiffs, v. C.G., Defendant and Appellee.

No. 20010047.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

August 29, 2001.

Charles M. Carvell (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Attorney General's Office, Bismarck, ND, and James C. Fleming, Assistant Attorney General, Attorney General's Office, Bismarck, ND, for plaintiff and appellant.

James P. Fitzsimmons (argued) and Edward B. Reinhardt, Jr., North Dakota Legal Services, New Town, ND, for defendant and appellee.

Gary M. Beaudry, Three Affiliated Tribes, New Town, ND, for amicus curiae.

SANDSTROM, Justice.

[¶ 1] McKenzie County Social Service Board ("the Board") appealed a December 18, 2000, memorandum and order directing it to return $5,611.19 collected from C.G. under a 1991 paternity and child support judgment. We affirm the order to the extent it denied the Board's motion to reconsider the court's decision the 1991 judgment was void for lack of jurisdiction, and we reverse the payment order.

I

[¶ 2] J.C.Y.B was born in 1987. When J.C.Y.B. was conceived on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, his mother and C.G. were members of the Three Affiliated Tribes and were living on the reservation. C.G. moved to Nevada about two years after J.C.Y.B was born.

[¶ 3] In 1990, J.C.Y.B.'s mother applied for and received public assistance from the Board. In 1991, the mother and the Board sued C.G. in state court to establish paternity, fix his child support obligation, and recover past public assistance paid for J.C.Y.B.'s benefit. Although he was properly served with process, C.G. did not appear in the action or challenge the court's jurisdiction. The district court entered a default judgment in 1991, adjudging C.G. to be the father of J.C.Y.B., ordering C.G. to pay child support of $175 per month, and giving the Board a judgment against C.G. for $1,042.25 in support it had disbursed on behalf of J.C.Y.B., to be paid at a minimum rate of $50 per month. The Board collected sums from C.G. in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1997.

[¶ 4] In 1999, C.G. moved to set aside the 1991 judgment and for a return of funds paid under it, asserting the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over him and lacked "subject matter jurisdiction over this paternity action, as the parties are all enrolled members of the Three Affiliated Tribes and the alleged conception of the child took place within the exterior boundaries of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation." While C.G. did not so denominate it, the district court treated his motion as one for relief from a final judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(iv), which provides for relief from a final judgment "for the following reasons: ... the judgment is void."

[¶ 5] On March 7, 2000, the district court issued an order denying C.G.'s motion to set aside the 1991 judgment. C.G. moved for reconsideration. In an order issued August 1, 2000, the district court concluded "the McKenzie County District Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear and decide this paternity/child support case____and, accordingly, the judgment entered by the Court was void from its inception," and concluded laches does not bar vacating a void judgment under N.D.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(iv). The court granted C.G.'s motion to reconsider, granted C.G.'s motion to set aside the 1991 judgment, vacated the 1991 judgment, and ruled C.G. "is entitled to the return of all funds paid out by him pursuant to that judgment." The district court issued findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order for judgment on September 18, 2000. Judgment was entered on September 19, 2000.

[¶ 6] The Board moved for reconsideration and clarification. On December 18, 2000, the district court issued an order denying the motion to reconsider, and as to the motion to clarify, the court ordered the Board "must now return the entire amount collected (i.e., $5,611.19) to the Defendant." The Board appealed.

[¶ 7] The Board contends the district court had subject matter jurisdiction in the 1991 proceeding and this Court should reverse the district court's December 18, 2000, order and direct the district court to reinstate the 1991 judgment.

[¶ 8] The district court had jurisdiction to rule on the instant motions under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27-05-06. The appeal was timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4. This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, §§ 2 and 6, and N.D.C.C. §§ 28-27-01 and 28-27-02.

II

[¶ 9] The Board contends the state district court and the Fort Berthold Tribal Court had concurrent jurisdiction to determine whether C.G. was the father of J.C.Y.B. and the district court erred in determining it lacked jurisdiction over the 1991 paternity action.

[¶ 10] "[A] judgment entered without personal or subject matter jurisdiction is void. Rule 60(b)(iv), N.D.R.Civ. P., allows relief from a void judgment." Eggl v. Fleetguard, Inc., 1998 ND 166, ¶ 4, 583 N.W.2d 812 (citation omitted).

Our standard of review for motions under Rule 60(b)(iv) is plenary. A motion under subdivision iv is not left to the court's discretion. The court's task is purely to determine the validity of the judgment. If the judgment is valid, the motion must be denied. If the judgment is void, the court has no discretion to protect it.

First Western Bank & Trust v. Wickman, 527 N.W.2d 278, 279 (N.D.1995). See also Johnson, Johnson, Stokes, Sandberg & Kragness, Ltd. v. Birnbaum, 555 N.W.2d 583, 585 (N.D.1996)

; Eggl, at ¶ 4.

[¶ 11] McKenzie County Social Servs. Bd. v. V.G., 392 N.W.2d 399 (N.D.1986), was a case "between enrolled members of Three Affiliated Tribes to determine the paternity of an Indian child living with her mother" on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Id. at 402. The alleged father, V.G., "at times resided off the reservation." Id. There was nothing in the record to contradict V.G.'s "allegation that `paternity' occurred on the reservation." Id. The Three Affiliated Tribes had not consented to state court jurisdiction. Id. This Court concluded "the district court erred in determining that it had jurisdiction to hear and determine this petition." Id. This Court explained:

We believe that the determination of the parentage of a child of Indian tribal members is a matter that is intimately connected with "'"the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them." ` " (Citations omitted.) "[T]o allow the exercise of state jurisdiction here would undermine the authority of the tribal courts over Reservation affairs and hence would infringe on the right of the Indians to govern themselves." Williams v. Lee, supra, 358 U.S. at 223, 79 S.Ct. at 272, 3 L.Ed.2d at 255....

The petitioners assert that significant events within the state but outside of the reservation gave the district court jurisdiction. The petitioners rely on the facts that C.F. successfully applied for public assistance with McKenzie County outside of the reservation boundaries and that, at times, V.G. has resided off the reservation. We believe that these matters are insufficient to permit state court jurisdiction to hear and determine a claim between Indians for conduct on the reservation. As we have explained, the exercise of such jurisdiction would undermine the authority of the tribal courts over reservation affairs and thereby infringe on the right of the Indians to govern themselves. Williams v. Lee, supra, 358 U.S. at 223, 79 S.Ct. at 272.

McKenzie County Social Servs. Bd. v. V.G., 392 N.W.2d at 402.

[¶ 12] We followed McKenzie County in In re M.L.M., 529 N.W.2d 184 (N.D. 1995). A regional child support enforcement unit attempted to distinguish McKenzie County because "it involved children born, and not merely conceived, on the reservation." M.L.M., at 185. We rejected that fact as a distinguishing feature. Id. The unit also tried to distinguish McKenzie County because the mother lived off the reservation for several years and the alleged father was employed outside the reservation. We rejected the distinction:

We do not agree with the Unit that Tara's term of residency off of the reservation and Larry's off-reservation employment are significant enough to overcome the danger that "the exercise of such jurisdiction would undermine the authority of the tribal courts over reservation affairs and thereby infringe on the right of the Indians to govern themselves."

M.L.M., at 186 (quoting McKenzie County, 392 N.W.2d at 402).

[¶ 13] The Board concedes important tribal interests are involved:

The tribe has an interest in self-government. It has an interest in adjudicating issues that involve tribal members. It has an interest in promoting its court system. It has an interest in applying its laws to its members.

The Board asserts important North Dakota interests are involved: "a general interest in promoting its courts and institutions and in applying its laws to all its citizens"; protecting the family unit; determining a child's biological parents; the "welfare and well-being of all the state's children"; and "[i]f North Dakota doesn't comply with Title IV-D the federal government may penalize the state by withholding funds. 42 U.S.C. § 609(a)(8)."

[¶ 14] "To qualify for federal AFDC funds, the State must certify that it will operate a child support enforcement program that conforms with the numerous requirements set forth in Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 651-669(b) (1994 ed. and Supp. II)." Blessing v. Freestone, 520 U.S. 329, 333, 117 S.Ct. 1353, 137 L.Ed.2d 569 (1997). McKenzie County acknowledged in its brief: "The [Title IV-D] problem was eventually rectified, in part, by a recent amendment to Title IV-D, 42 U.S.C. § 654(33), eliminating, in effect, the requirement that tribal law comply with all federal law." "[A]ll the tribes in North Dakota" meet the general criteria of recent amendments to Title IV-D and...