SB0185 • 2026

Child Welfare Parental Representation Program Amendments

Children

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Sen. Harper, Wayne A.
Last action: 2026-03-23
Official status: Governor Signed
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Child Welfare Parental Representation Program Amendments

This bill addresses the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program.

What This Bill Does

This bill addresses the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-03-23 Lieutenant Governor's office for filing
Governor Signed
2026-03-03 Senate Secretary
Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing
2026-03-03 Executive Branch - Governor
Senate/ to Governor
2026-02-25 Senate Secretary
Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
2026-02-25 Senate Secretary
Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing
2026-02-22 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling
2026-02-22 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
2026-02-19 House 3rd Reading Calendar for Senate bills
House/ 3rd reading
2026-02-19 House Speaker
House/ passed 3rd reading
2026-02-19 Senate President
House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate
2026-02-19 Senate President
House/ to Senate
2026-02-19 Senate President
Senate/ received from House
2026-02-19 Legislative Research and General Counsel / Enrolling
Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling
2026-02-18 House 3rd Reading Calendar for Senate bills
House/ 2nd reading
2026-02-18 House Judiciary Committee
House/ committee report favorable
2026-02-17 House Judiciary Committee
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
2026-02-11 House Judiciary Committee
House/ to standing committee
2026-02-09 House Rules Committee
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
2026-02-09 Clerk of the House
House/ received from Senate
2026-02-09 Senate Consent Calendar
Senate/ 3rd reading
2026-02-09 Clerk of the House
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2026-02-09 Clerk of the House
Senate/ to House
2026-02-04 Senate Consent Calendar
Senate/ 2nd reading
2026-02-04 Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Senate/ comm rpt/ placed on Consent Calendar
2026-02-03 Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Senate Comm - Consent Calendar Recommendation
2026-02-03 Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
2026-01-28 Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst
2026-01-27 Released
LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for SB0185
2026-01-27 Version Sponsor
LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for SB0185
2026-01-27 Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Senate/ to standing committee
2026-01-23 Senate Rules Committee
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
2026-01-23 Waiting for Introduction in the Senate
Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research
2026-01-22 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Bill Numbered but not Distributed
2026-01-22 Legislative Fiscal Analyst
LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for SB0185
2026-01-22 Legislative Fiscal Agency
LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for SB0185
2026-01-22 Legislative Research and General Counsel
Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed

Official Summary Text

This bill addresses the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

3
78B-22-802
0
Child Welfare Parental Representation Program Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper
House Sponsor: Rex P. Shipp
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
allows the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program to:
provide education and support for all parental representation attorneys;
support indigent parental defense services through grants; and
administer the existing Interdisciplinary Parental Representation Program;
removes the requirement for attorneys to be contracted; and
modifies the way the executive director shall prepare the budget.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
78B-22-802
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2021, Chapters 228, 235
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
78B-22-802
is amended to read:
78B-22-802
. Child Welfare Parental Representation Program -- Creation --
Duties -- Annual report -- Budget.
(1)
There is created within the office the Child Welfare Parental Representation Program.
(2)
(a)
The office shall:
(i)
(a)
administer and enforce the program in accordance with this part;
(ii)
(b)
manage the operation and budget of the program;
(iii)
(c)
develop and provide educational and training programs for
contracted
parental
representation attorneys;
(d)
subject to appropriation from the Legislature, provide support for indigent parental
defense services through the Indigent Defense Commission grant process;
(e)
administer the Interdisciplinary Parental Representation Program, established in
Section
80-22-805
;
and
(iv)
(f)
provide information and advice to assist a
contracted
parental representation
attorney to comply with the attorney's professional, contractual, and ethical duties.
(b)
In administering the program, the office shall contract with:
(i)
a person who is qualified to perform the program duties under this section; and
(ii)
an attorney, as an independent contractor, in accordance with Section
78B-22-803
.
(3)
(a)
The executive director shall prepare a budget of:
(i)
the administrative expenses for the program; and
(ii)
the amount
estimated
expended in the prior year
to fund
needed
contracts
, the
Interdisciplinary Parental Representation Program,
and other
parent representation
program
costs.
(b)
On or before October 1 of each year, the executive director shall report to the
governor and the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel regarding the preceding
fiscal year on the operations, activities, and goals of the program.
Section 2.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
1-22-26 2:13 PM