STATE OF INDIANA )
) SS:
COUNTY OF HUNTINGTON )
IN THE HUNTINGTON
CIRCUIT COURT
CAUSE NUMBER:
35C01-2511-JT-000019
IN THE MATTER OF THE
TERMINATION OF THE
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP:
LEC – DOB 5/24/2020
AND
MICHAEL WAYNE COPELAND, JR. (FATHER)
SCARLETT KAY COPELAND (BIOLOGICAL MOTHER)
SUMMONS FOR SERVICE
BY PUBLICATION &
NOTICE OF TERMINATION
OF PARENTAL RIGHTS
HEARING
TO: Michael Wayne Copeland, Jr.
Whereabouts unknown
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to the above noted parent whose whereabouts are unknown, that the Indiana Department of Child Services has filed a Petition for Involuntary Termination of your Parental Rights, and that an adjudication hearing has been scheduled with the Court.
YOU ARE HEREBY COMMANDED to appear before the Judge of the Huntington Circuit Court, 201 N. Jefferson Street, #301, Huntington, IN 46750 – 260-358-4814 for a(n) Initial Hearing on 2/20/2026 at 8:30 AM and Termination Hearing on 2/20/2026 at 8:30 AM and to answer the Petition for Termination of your Parental Rights of said child.
You are further notified that if the allegations in said petition are true, and/or if you fail to appear at the hearing, the Juvenile Court may terminate your parent-child relationship; and if the Court terminates your parent-child relationship you will lose all parental rights, powers, privileges, immunities, duties and obligations including any rights to custody, control, visitation, or support in said child; and if the Court terminates your parent-child relationship, it will be permanently terminated, and thereafter you may not contest an adoption or other placement of said child.
You are entitled to representation by an attorney, provided by the State if applicable, throughout these proceedings to terminate the parent-child relationship. If you have been appointed an attorney in the Child in Need of Services action involving the above-named child(ren), that attorney may not be automatically appointed to represent you in these proceedings. You must appear at the hearing currently scheduled in this matter and request that the Court appoint an attorney to represent you in these proceedings to terminate the parent-child relationship.
YOU MUST RESPOND by appearing in person or by an attorney within thirty (30) days after the last publication of this notice, and in the event you fail to do so, adjudication on said petition and termination of your parental rights may be entered against you, in your absence, without further notice.
12/30/2025
Shelley Septer
Clerk
Mitchell Morris, 34125-64
Attorney, Indiana Department of Child Services
403 S Cass St.
Wabash, IN 46992
nb 1/3, 1/10, 1/17
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