Kansas Judiciary committee hears testimony on bill to exempt social workers on legal teams from some mandated reporting

At a hearing of the Committee on Judiciary, lawmakers heard hours of testimony for and against House Bill 24-80, which would create a narrow exception to certain mandated-reporting laws for licensed social workers when they are supervised by an attorney and the information prompting a report arises solely from the attorney's representation or prospective representation (date not specified).

The bill's reviser, Jason Thompson of the Reviser's Office, told the committee HB 24-80 would insert similar language into multiple mandatory-reporting statutes and related employment provisions so that a social worker supervised by an attorney would not be required to report information learned solely in the course of representation. The bill also would treat such information as privileged for purposes of testimony under the cited confidentiality provisions and take effect July 1 if adopted.

Supporters, primarily from public-defense and legal-aid organizations, said the change would allow licensed social workers to be fully integrated into defense teams. Noelle O'Neil, director of social work for the Kansas Federal Public Defender's Office, said trust is essential to uncovering mitigating facts about clients and asked lawmakers not to force social workers to choose between their licenses and helping clients. "Without this protection, I am being asked to choose between my license and my ability to fully help our clients," O'Neil said. Melody Brannan, chief federal public defender for the District of Kansas, said confidentiality obligations permit defense teams to build relationships of trust that improve representation.

Anne Sagan, executive director of the Board of Indigent Defense Services, told the panel that mitigation specialists and social workers support defense work across the state and that her agency handles roughly 26,000 felony cases a year. She said the bill is narrowly tailored and does not alter mandated-reporting requirements that apply in schools, health care, day care, the Department for Children and Families or other contexts.

Jill Cohen, a licensed clinical social worker in Colorado who testified virtually, said Colorado adopted similar statutory language after a 2022 task force reviewed mandatory-reporting laws nationwide and concluded limited exemptions for legal-team professionals can protect privilege without reducing child safety. Cohen told the committee that California, Louisiana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, D.C., and Colorado have adopted comparable approaches.

Opponents said the proposal risks silencing reports of past or ongoing abuse. Sarah Hortenstein, executive director of the Kansas Child Death Review Board, said a law that could shield abuse or neglect "is not sound policy" and stressed mandatory reporting exists to remove inconsistent discretion from professionals. Kim Borchers, speaking for victims, said the bill effectively changes expectations simply because a social worker is on a defense team and warned it could "protect abusers."

Members asked detailed questions about the bill's limits, including whether the exception would apply to information about third parties discovered during representation and how the ethics rule's exceptions for preventing imminent criminal conduct would apply. Proponents responded that the exception applies only where the information was discovered solely through the attorney-client relationship and that professional ethics (Kansas Rule 1.6) contains narrow exceptions, including for preventing imminent offenses.

The committee closed proponent and opponent testimony and noted written proponent and opponent testimony for members to review. The hearing was closed without a recorded committee vote; the chair said the committee will consider related bills and vote on minutes at a future meeting. The committee did not adopt or reject HB 24-80 during this hearing.

Sources: Reviser bill brief and in-person and virtual testimony before the Committee on Judiciary, including Jason Thompson (Reviser's Office); Noelle O'Neil (Kansas Federal Public Defender's Office); Michelle Ewertz (Washburn Law Clinic); Melody Brannan (Federal Public Defender, District of Kansas); Anne Sagan (Board of Indigent Defense Services); Jill Cohen (Colorado Office of Respondent Parents Counsel); Sarah Hortenstein (Kansas Child Death Review Board); Kim Borchers (private citizen).