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Committee hears bill to streamline child-protection statutes and add 90-day limit to emergency protective services
Summary
House Bill 77, sponsored by Representative S.J. Howell, would remove a duplicative 'temporary investigative authority' petition, add a 90‑day limit to Emergency Protective Services (EPS), and consolidate code to improve consistency across jurisdictions. CPS stakeholders and legal offices supported the cleanup and said removal practices would not materially change.
Representative S. J. Howell opened the HB 77 hearing by framing the bill as a statutory cleanup designed to promote consistency and transparency in the child-protective-services system. Howell said the measure removes duplicative temporary language and adds a 90-day timeframe to the Emergency Protective Services (EPS) statute, which stakeholders agreed would help make timelines consistent across jurisdictions.
Several members of the interim working group and state officials testified in favor. Senator Dennis Lenz, who chaired the working group, said the provision being removed is rarely used…
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