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Senate committee advances bill to add CPS to county office-space statute
Summary
A Senate committee voted to advance a bill that would amend Section 43-26-11 to require counties to provide habitable office space for the Department of Child Protective Services after members said the existing statute names the Department of Human Services but not CPS.
A Senate committee voted to advance a bill to amend Section 43-26-11 to require counties to provide habitable office space for the Department of Child Protective Services, the panel said during a brief hearing.
The measure — requested by Child Protective Services — would add CPS to the existing statutory language that currently references the Department of Human Services, ensuring CPS is explicitly covered, the bill presenter said. "That's all the bill does," the presenter said.
Committee members questioned whether lack of habitable local office space is a problem for CPS in the same way it has been for local health departments. One senator asked for more detail about current space shortages; another explained that when DHS and CPS split, the statute continued to refer only to DHS and did not explicitly include CPS, and the bill is intended to correct that omission.
After brief discussion the committee adopted the motion "title sufficient, do pass" by voice vote. Committee members answered in the affirmative when asked for those in favor; no opposition was recorded in the transcript. The committee rose and reported the bill to the next stage of consideration.
The transcript did not specify the bill number, the committee vote count, or implementation details such as funding or enforcement mechanisms. It also did not specify a timeline for the bill's next steps or whether counties will require additional appropriations to meet the requirement.
