Montana legislation · 2025 Regular Session
Montana SB18: Revise the definition of child abuse or neglect
Status: Signed into law, April 3, 2025
What the bill says
An act revising the definition of child abuse or neglect to exclude certain factors from solely constituting physical or psychological harm to a child; and amending section 41-3-102, mca.
From the engrossed text:
AN ACT REVISING THE DEFINITION OF CHILD ABUSE OR NEGLECT TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN FACTORS FROM SOLELY CONSTITUTING PHYSICAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM TO A CHILD; AND AMENDING SECTION 41-3-102, MCA. Section 1. Section 41-3-102, MCA, is amended to read: " 41-3-102. (Temporary) Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply: (1) (a) "Abandon", "abandoned", and "abandonment" mean: (i) leaving a child under circumstances that make reasonable the belief that the parent does not intend to resume care of the child in the future; (ii) willfully surrendering physical custody for a period of 6 months and during that period not manifesting to the child and the person having physical custody of the child a firm intention to resume physical custody or to make permanent legal arrangements for the care of the child; (iii) that the parent is unknown and has been unknown for a period of 90 days and that reasonable efforts to identify and locate the parent have failed; or (iv) the voluntary surrender, as defined in 40-6-402, by a parent of a newborn who is no more than 30 days old to an emergency services provider, as defined in 40-6-402. (b) The terms do not include the voluntary surrender of a child to the department solely because of parental inability to access publicly funded services. (2) "A person …
Sponsors
- Lenz, Dennis (R, 25) · primary sponsor
- Howell, SJ (D, 100)
Latest actions
- : Chapter Number Assigned
- : (S) Signed by Governor
- : (S) Transmitted to Governor
- : (H) Signed by Speaker
- : (S) Signed by President
- : (S) Returned from Enrolling
- : (S) Sent to Enrolling
- : (H) 3rd Reading
- : (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading
- : (H) 2nd Reading
Votes
- Do Concur (March 18, 2025): 91 yea, 7 nay, passed
- Do Concur (March 17, 2025): 92 yea, 4 nay, passed
- Do Pass (January 30, 2025): 48 yea, 1 nay, passed
- Do Pass (January 29, 2025): 47 yea, 3 nay, passed
Subjects: Minors, Family Law
Common questions
- What is SB18?
- SB18 is a bill in the Montana Legislature (2025 Regular Session): Revise the definition of child abuse or neglect.
- What does SB18 do?
- In its own words: An act revising the definition of child abuse or neglect to exclude certain factors from solely constituting physical or psychological harm to a child; and amending section 41-3-102, mca.
- What is the status of SB18?
- Signed into law as of April 3, 2025. Latest action: Chapter Number Assigned (April 3, 2025).
- Who sponsored SB18?
- Lenz, Dennis (R, 25), with 1 co-sponsor.
- Where is the official record for SB18?
- On the Montana Legislature website: https://bills.legmt.gov/#/laws/bill/2/LC0726
Source: official Montana record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.