SB 256 Montana Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Generally revise child abuse and neglect laws

SB 256 revises laws concerning the access and confidentiality of child abuse and neglect investigation records. The bill expands the exceptions to confidentiality, allowing a broader range of individuals and entities to access these records under specific conditions. This includes courts, authorized agencies, health professionals, certain family members, foster and adoptive parents, and for purposes like research or background screenings. It also revises discovery procedures in abuse and neglect proceedings and provides for record access in child custody cases.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Apr 2025
Introduced Feb 3, 2025 Signed Apr 17, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB0256_2(8).pdf SB0256_X.pdf · 2 edits
MINOR
The bill was transitioned from a draft version to an enrolled, final version, which confirms it is ready for signing into law. The substantive policy content regarding child abuse record confidentiality remains unchanged, though minor formatting adjustments were made to the section headers and numbering.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; the text represents the final enacted version of the same legislation.
TECHNICAL

Updated the bill title to include 'ENROLLED BILL' and adjusted formatting to reflect the final legislative text.

Corrected minor spacing and line break inconsistencies in the section headers and introductory text.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 28, 2025 · House Mar 25, 2025

How they voted

480
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 50
Mar 28, 2025
D Democratic18
16 Yea 2
88% Yea
R Republican32
32 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
50
Key actions
9
Committee
6
Amendments
1
Apr 16, 2025
Signed into law
(S) Signed by Governor
upper
Apr 8, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Signed by Speaker
lower
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Signed by President
upper
Mar 28, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (48-0-2)
senate
Mar 25, 2025
House · Passed
House Vote: pass (99-0-1)
house
Mar 25, 2025
Introduced
(H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Report - (H) Human Services
lower
Mar 18, 2025
Lower · Passed
(H) Committee Executive Action - (H) Human Services
lower
Feb 22, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Human Services
lower
Feb 15, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Public Health, Welfare and Safety
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Public Health, Welfare and Safety
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Public Health, Welfare and Safety
upper
Feb 3, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Dennis Lenz
Dennis Lenz
RRepublican
MT
25