PROVO — A Las Vegas man is suing Utah's Division of Child and Family Services for allegedly violating his constitutionally afforded right to due process when they took custody of his children about five years ago.
In the 4th District Court lawsuit, Travis Huebner, 27, and his attorneys claim that DCFS employees repeatedly failed to notify him about legal proceedings regarding the custody of his children.
"No one asked the question, 'Where's dad?' " said Huebner's attorney, Aaron Bartholomew. "They had half a dozen court appearances without him."
After Huebner and the child's mother separated in 2000, he moved to Nevada and his ex-wife maintained custody of the three girls.
However, after she lost custody in 2001, the children were placed with foster families, Huebner's visitation rights were terminated and in May 2002 all of his parental rights were terminated by a 4th District Juvenile Court judge.
Bartholomew argues that the state failed to provide sufficient notice of the hearings. But DCFS employees testified in court that they tried repeatedly to contact Huebner in Las Vegas and were told he was not at home. The DCFS employee said she left her phone number each time, according to court documents.
The suit against DCFS is the latest in a string of legal proceedings about Huebner's parental rights.
In 2004, the Utah Court of Appeals reversed the juvenile court's decision, reinstating Huebner's rights.
"We hold that due to the failure of DCFS to inform (Huebner) of the neglect proceedings involving his children, he was not given a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate interest in his children and assume parental responsibility for them. This is a violation of (Huebner's) due process rights," wrote Judge Pamela T. Greenwood in her ruling.
But by the time that ruling was made, Huebner's children hadn't been in his custody for several years. And Huebner's three daughters, an 8-year-old and 7-year-old twins, had since bonded with their foster families.
So in April 2005, Huebner relinquished all rights as a father to prevent more trauma by removing the children, Bartholomew said.
Now, Huebner and his attorneys want the state to pay for what they allege was a violation of his constitutional rights of due process, based on improper noticing.
Attorneys are just starting to gather evidence in a civil law suit against select DCFS employees, a process which could take as long as a year.
But Bartholomew said he is frustrated by an apparent cavalier attitude from the state.
"No one has ever said, 'I'm sorry, Travis,' " Bartholomew said. "Their response is, 'It's for the best.' It's insulting."
The Utah Attorney General's office is vigorously defending the state and its employees in the suit, spokesman Paul Murphy said. Murphy also could not comment on specifics of the case because it is under litigation.
DCFS removed the children because they were worried Huebner had abandoned them, Bartholomew said. However, the eight- to nine-month window that the state alleges constitutes abandonment was actually a time when Huebner hadn't received any notice that his children were in custody of DCFS.
Huebner was unaware they had been taken from their mother, who would call him during her visitation times with the girls, thus leading him to believe everything was fine.
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