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Legislator access to CPS files and new definitions on child removal spark heated hearing
Summary
Rep. Mercer’s HB 6 90 would expand legislator access to Child Protective Services records under confidentiality rules and change statutory language so certain parental practices (raising a child "consistent with biological sex") would not constitute abuse/neglect; advocates and county attorneys warned the language is broad and could limit CPS discretion in urgent situations, especially for transgender youth.
Representative Bill Mercer told the Judiciary Committee that House Bill 6 90 responds to a statutory right legislators already possess to review Child Protective Services (CPS) records and seeks to clarify protections for attorney‑client privileged materials while also amending abuse and neglect definitions. "This section of the code ... allows the legislator to say to the district court ... I don't believe that this is subject to the attorney client privilege," Mercer said, explaining an in‑camera mechanism to challenge privilege designations.
The bill…
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