Rule 3.937.Advice of Appellate Rights

MCR 3.937 makes sure a juvenile leaves the hearing knowing that the order can be appealed and how to get a lawyer for that appeal. The advice is not optional and is not delivered in writing alone. The court speaks it on the record, checks that the juvenile understood it, and hands over the form that starts the process.

When the advice is given

Subrule (A) fixes two triggers. The first is the conclusion of a dispositional hearing under MCR 3.943. The second is any delinquency hearing at which the court orders that the juvenile be removed from a parent's care and custody. The two triggers are independent, so the duty can arise at more than one point in a case: a dispositional hearing calls for the advice whether or not removal is ordered, and a removal order calls for it at whatever delinquency hearing produces the order.

What the court says

The advice has three parts under subrule (A). The juvenile has a right to appellate review of the order. If the juvenile cannot afford an attorney for the appeal, the court will appoint one at public expense and provide that attorney with the complete transcripts and record of all proceedings. And a request for appointment of an appellate attorney must be made within one of two periods:

• within 21 days after notice of the order is given, or after an order is entered denying a timely-filed postjudgment motion, if the juvenile wants to preserve any appeal by right authorized by these rules; or
• within 6 months of the entry of the order to be appealed.

The two periods do different work. The 21-day period is tied to preserving an appeal by right. The 6-month period is the outer limit for asking the court to appoint appellate counsel at all.

Making the advice land

Subrule (B) governs how the advice is delivered. It must be made in language designed to ensure the juvenile's understanding of their rights, and after giving the advice the court must inquire whether the juvenile understands each of them. That inquiry is a separate step, not something folded into the recitation.

Subrule (C) supplies the paperwork. The court must give the juvenile a request for appointment of appellate counsel form, and the form must carry an instruction that it has to be completed and filed as required by MCR 3.993(D) if the juvenile wants an appellate attorney appointed. The rule pairs the spoken advice with the document that turns it into a filing.