A. Court Appointment of Counsel: The Juvenile Clerk shall appoint GAL and counsel for parents or other parties (CACs) from voluntary lists of local attorneys licensed and in good standing with the Kentucky Bar Association. Any District Judge may remove attorneys from the appointment list for that Judge's division at the Judge's discretion.

1) Guardian ad Litem: Immediately after a petition is filed, the Juvenile Clerk shall appoint a GAL to represent the child's best interests, and shall provide the appointed attorney notice of the appointment and the court date, and a copy of the petition.

2) Counsel for Person Accused of Dependency/Neglect/Abuse:

3) Counsel for Non-Accused Parent or Custodial Party: The Court may, in its discretion, for good cause and in the interest of justice, appoint counsel for an indigent parent or indigent party exercising custody of the child who has not been accused of dependency/abuse/neglect.

4) Warning Order Attorney: To provide notice to an absent parent, absent person exercising custody over the child, or absent person accused of dependency/neglect/abuse, the Court may appoint a Warning Order Attorney and, if the party can be located and makes an appearance, may then be appointed as counsel for that party in the discretion of the Court.

B. Duties of Court Appointed Counsel (CAC): The CAC represents the parent(s) or other person exercising custodial control or supervision (PECCS) from whom the child was removed and shall treat their clients with dignity and respect, and shall diligently represent the interest of their clients and provide competent representation in accordance with all applicable ethical rules, including return of phone calls and email, and communication with their client outside of the courtroom. The CAC has the same obligation to the client as retained counsel. See SCR 3.130 (6.2) and commentary.

C. Duties of GAL: The role and responsibility of the GAL is to represent, as an attorney, the child's best interests before the Court. The GAL shall be a full and active participant in the proceedings who independently investigates, assesses and advocates for the child's best interests. When representing a child who may be too young to understand or monitor court orders or complex legal proceedings, the implicit set of checks and balances operative in other types of representation is not likely to insure adequate representation. Therefore, detailed standards for the practice of Guardians ad Litem for Children are attached as Appendix B. Attorneys accepting appointments as GAL for children shall adhere to these standards or may be removed from the appointment list in the discretion of the sitting Judge.