In re A.S.A.

This is an appeal from an order of the Fifth Judicial District Court, State of Montana, terminating a mother’s parental rights to her four children and awarding permanent legal custody to the Department of Family Services. The mother asserts on appeal that the District Court violated her constitutional right to due process and denied her statutory right to appointed counsel when the court refused to appoint counsel for her at the hearing to terminate her parental rights. We reverse.

The dispositive issue on appeal is:

Did the District Court err when it refused to appoint counsel to represent an…