HB 1036 Indiana House · 2026 Regular Session

Children in need of services.

Summary

Requires the department of child services, subject to certain procedural safeguards, to have in-person contact with an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect: (1) before concluding an assessment; and (2) before dismissing or terminating a pending child in need of services case with the juvenile court.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Dec 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Signed into Law

Feb 2026

Introduced Dec 1, 2025 Signed Feb 26, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled House Bill (H) → House Bill (S) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was converted from an enrolled act to a standard House Bill draft, adding procedural history and a committee report. The core policy requirement remains unchanged: the Department of Child Services must have in-person contact with an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect before concluding an assessment or dismissing a case. The committee report clarifies that the specific text requiring this contact replaces a previous draft clause that mentioned a '(a)' subsection.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's legal requirement remains unchanged; only the document format and procedural history were added.

TECHNICAL

Added procedural history, including a digest, synopsis, and committee report recommending the bill's passage with specific text amendments.

Changed the document title from 'Enrolled House Bill' to 'House Bill', indicating it is in a draft stage rather than final enactment.

Removed the 'Enrolled' status and associated signatures, as the bill is no longer in its final enacted form.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 17, 2026 · House Feb 2, 2026

How they voted

44–0

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 49

Feb 17, 2026

D Democratic9

7 Yea 2

77% Yea

R Republican40

37 Yea 3

92% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 26, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by the Governor

executive

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by the President of the Senate

upper

Feb 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Signed by the President Pro Tempore

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Signed by the Speaker

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

House concurred with Senate amendments; Roll Call 294: yeas 94, nays 0

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Third reading: passed; Roll Call 175: yeas 45, nays 0

upper

Feb 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

Amendment #2 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote

upper

Feb 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee report: do pass, adopted

upper

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Third reading: passed; Roll Call 189: yeas 95, nays 0

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

lower

4 primary · 13 co-sponsors