Debate in Montana Senate health committee over warrant requirement for child removals centers on parental rights, child safety

Senator Daniel Emerich opened the Jan. 20 Senate Public Health Committee hearing on Senate Bill 50 by saying the bill would require a warrant to remove a child from the child's home except when there are exigent circumstances and would require the department to file an abuse-and-neglect petition within 72 hours of an emergency removal.

"Parents have a fundamental constitutional right, to, raise their children," Senator Daniel Emerich said when describing the bill's intent to add judicial oversight to removals. The sponsor emphasized that the bill preserves the ability to remove a child without a warrant if a judge would not be able to act in time to prevent imminent harm.

The hearing drew extensive testimony. Attorney Matthew Monforten, representing the Colstad family, said the family’s child was seized by CPS in August 2023 without a warrant and without probable cause and that had a warrant requirement been in place, "the Colstad family would be intact." Multiple family members and relatives gave accounts describing removal of children that they said lacked evidentiary support; Christa Kolstad described her family's experience, saying hospital staff and CPS moved her daughter through an out-of-state placement process without…