# Kansas SB 408: Excluding a child engaging in age-appropriate independent activities from the definition of a child in need of care in the revised Kansas code for care of children, requiring the secretary for children and families to enter into a memorandum of understanding with military organizations and create a referral process for children in need of care cases involving children of military personnel to provide families with services that a military family advocacy program offers, authorizing a challenge to a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity as soon as practicable after discovery of fraud, duress or mistake of fact and specifying that certain genetic testing results shall constitute a change of circumstances that warrants a court finding of material mistake of fact. Kansas SB 408, Excluding a child engaging in age-appropriate independent activities from the definition of a child in need of care in the revised Kansas code for care of children, requiring the secretary for children and families to enter into a memorandum of understanding with military organizations and create a referral process for children in need of care cases involving children of military personnel to provide families with services that a military family advocacy program offers, authorizing a challenge to a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity as soon as practicable after discovery of fraud, duress or mistake of fact and specifying that certain genetic testing results shall constitute a change of circumstances that warrants a court finding of material mistake of fact., is a 2025–2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Committee on Judiciary; status signed, last action 2026-04-09 (Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, April 3, 2026) (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB408-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Kansas SB 408 - State: Kansas - Session: 2025–2026 Regular Session - Title: Excluding a child engaging in age-appropriate independent activities from the definition of a child in need of care in the revised Kansas code for care of children, requiring the secretary for children and families to enter into a memorandum of understanding with military organizations and create a referral process for children in need of care cases involving children of military personnel to provide families with services that a military family advocacy program offers, authorizing a challenge to a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity as soon as practicable after discovery of fraud, duress or mistake of fact and specifying that certain genetic testing results shall constitute a change of circumstances that warrants a court finding of material mistake of fact. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-28 - Last action: 2026-04-09, Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, April 3, 2026 - Sponsor: Committee on Judiciary - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: house committee on judiciary, senate committee on judiciary - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 6 (406 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More freedom for kids’ independent activities: benefit, medium. Kansas excludes children under 18 from being considered in need of care solely for parent-approved, age-appropriate independent activities. Activities must fit the child’s age, maturity, and mental abilities. Lack of supervision cannot amount to gross negligence that endangers the child’s health or… - Military families get child-welfare service referrals: benefit, low. When practicable, Kansas child-welfare staff must check a parent’s or guardian’s military status during preliminary inquiries. When the Department for Children and Families investigates a child with a military parent or guardian, it must refer the family for military family advocacy services. The d… - Paternity challenges expand with support limits: mixed, medium. Kansas must review paternity acknowledgment forms and update them as needed to explain rights, responsibilities, and challenge rules. A signer may revoke an acknowledgment within 60 days after completion or before a qualifying proceeding, whichever comes first. The proceeding must concern the child… - Secure placement for children has safeguards: mixed, low. Courts may order children to remain in placement if they are unlikely to be available for future court proceedings. This applies only after a child-in-need-of-care finding under K.S.A. 38-2202(d)(1)(F), (G), (H), (I), (J), or (L). The child and the child’s court-appointed legal representative must… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Committee on Judiciary ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-04-23 | Senate | Yea: 39 Nay: 0 | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-04-23 | Senate | Yea: 124 Nay: 0 | pass | 124 | 0 | | | 2026-04-23 | Senate | Yea: 40 Nay: 0 | pass | 40 | 0 | | | 2026-03-26 | Senate | Concurred with amendments in conference | pass | 39 | 0 | | | 2026-03-18 | House | Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended | pass | 124 | 0 | | | 2026-02-18 | Senate | Final Action - Passed | pass | 40 | 0 | | ## Actions (19) - 2026-04-09: Enrolled and presented to Governor on Friday, April 3, 2026 (Senate) - 2026-04-09: Approved by Governor on Thursday, April 9, 2026 (Senate) - 2026-03-26: Concurred with amendments in conference; Yea 39, Nay 0, Absent 1 (Senate) - 2026-03-23: Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Sen. Kellie Warren, Sen. Kenny Titus and Sen. Ethan Corson (Senate) - 2026-03-23: Motion to accede adopted; Rep. Susan Humphries, Rep. Laura Williams and Rep. Dan Osman appointed as conferees (House) - 2026-03-18: Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted (House) - 2026-03-18: Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended (House) - 2026-03-18: Motion to advance to Emergency Final Action adopted (House) - 2026-03-18: Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 124, Nay 0, Absent 1 (House) - 2026-03-17: Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Judiciary (House) - 2026-03-02: Hearing: Monday, March 2, 2026, 3:30 PM — Room 582-N (House) - 2026-02-18: Final Action - Passed; Yea 40, Nay 0 (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Received and Introduced (House) - 2026-02-18: Referred to House Committee on Judiciary (House) - 2026-02-17: Committee of the Whole - Be passed (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Committee Report recommending bill be passed by Senate Committee on Judiciary (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Hearing: Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 10:30 AM — Room 346-S (Senate) - 2026-01-29: Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Introduced (Senate) ## Bill text - As Amended by House Committee on Judiciary: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_01_0000.pdf) - As Introduced: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_00_0000.pdf) - Enrolled: [PDF](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_enrolled.pdf) ## Related bills - SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes in the Kansas criminal code. (signed) - SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage and the retail sale of higher ethanol blends of fuel, discontinuing the tax cred… (signed) - SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholic liquor depending on whether the taxpayer is a qualifying Kansas investor or a… (signed) - HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes. (signed) - HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creating the crime of interference with the conduct of a religious assembly, providin… (became law) - HB 2530: Substitute for HB 2530 by Committee on Education - Providing for the transferability of credentials earned through ACT workkeys career readiness assessments to… (failed) ## Sources - [As Amended by House Committee on Judiciary (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_01_0000.pdf) - [As Introduced (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_00_0000.pdf) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/bills/download/?apn=b2025_26/year2/ready_for_publication/sb_408/sb408_enrolled.pdf) ## Related - [SB 430: Adding mitragynine to schedule I of the uniform controlled substances act and r…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB430-2025-2026) - [SB 82: Providing tax credits for expenditures for lockable gun and ammunition storage…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB82-2025-2026) - [SB 300: Providing for the apportionment of business income by manufacturers of alcoholi…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB300-2025-2026) - [HB 2029: Reconciling multiple amendments to certain statutes.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2029-2025-2026) - [HB 2018: Senate Substitute for HB 2018 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creat…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2018-2025-2026) - [HB 2530: Substitute for HB 2530 by Committee on Education - Providing for the transferab…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-HB2530-2025-2026) - [Kansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas/bills) - [Kansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/kansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/KS-SB408-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-17).