41-3-609. Criteria for termination. (1) The court may order a termination of the parent-child legal relationship upon a finding that any of the following circumstances exist:
     (a) the parents have relinquished the child pursuant to 40-6-135;
     (b) the child has been abandoned by the parents as set forth in 41-3-102(7)(e);
     (c) the child is an adjudicated youth in need of care and both of the following exist:
     (i) an appropriate treatment plan that has been approved by the court has not been complied with by the parents or has not been successful; and
     (ii) the conduct or condition of the parents rendering them unfit is unlikely to change within a reasonable time; or
     (d) the parent has failed to successfully complete a treatment plan approved by the court within the time periods allowed for the child to be in foster care under 41-3-410 unless it orders other permanent legal custody under 41-3-410.
     (2) In determining whether the conduct or condition of the parents is unlikely to change within a reasonable time, the court must enter a finding that continuation of the parent-child legal relationship will likely result in continued abuse or neglect or that the conduct or the condition of the parents renders the parents unfit, unable, or unwilling to give the child adequate parental care. In making the determinations, the court shall consider but is not limited to the following:
     (a) emotional illness, mental illness, or mental deficiency of the parent of such duration or nature as to render the parent unlikely to care for the ongoing physical, mental, and emotional needs of the child within a reasonable time;
     (b) a history of violent behavior by the parent;
     (c) a single incident of life-threatening or gravely disabling injury to or disfigurement of the child caused by the parent;
     (d) excessive use of intoxicating liquor or of a narcotic or dangerous drug that affects the parent's ability to care and provide for the child;
     (e) present judicially ordered long-term confinement of the parent;
     (f) the injury or death of a sibling due to proven parental abuse or neglect; and
     (g) any reasonable efforts by protective service agencies that have been unable to rehabilitate the parent.
     (3) In considering any of the factors in subsection (2) in terminating the parent-child relationship, the court shall give primary consideration to the physical, mental, and emotional conditions and needs of the child. The court shall review and, if necessary, order an evaluation of the child's or the parent's physical, mental, and emotional conditions.
     (4) A treatment plan is not required under this part upon a finding by the court following hearing if:
     (a) two medical doctors submit testimony that the parent is so severely mentally ill that the parent cannot assume the role of parent;
     (b) the parent is incarcerated for more than 1 year and a treatment plan is not practical considering the incarceration; or
     (c) the death of a sibling caused by abuse or neglect by the parent has occurred.
     (5) If a person is convicted of a felony in which sexual intercourse occurred or if a minor is adjudicated a delinquent youth because of an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a felony in which sexual intercourse occurred and, as a result of the sexual intercourse, a child is born, the court may terminate the offender's parental rights to the child at any time after the conviction or adjudication.

     History: En. Sec. 6, Ch. 420, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 15, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 388, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 599, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 439, L. 1993; (5)En. Sec. 2, Ch. 369, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 20, Ch. 458, L. 1995.