Right to counsel

An indigent parent has a statutory right to appointed counsel in every stage of an abuse/neglect proceeding via Mich. Comp. Laws. 712A.17c(4), and the parent must be advised of this right. Michigan Court Rule 3.915(B) adds that the court, at respondent's first court appearance in a child protective proceeding, advise the respondent of the right to retain an attorney to represent the respondent at any hearing conducted pursuant to the rules and if the respondent is not represented by an attorney, the respondent may request a court-appointed attorney at any later hearing.

Rule 3.915(B) was amended in January 2012 to add that the right to counsel extends to any preliminary hearings.