# Montana HB 694: Revise laws related to child abuse and neglect

Montana HB 694, Revise laws related to child abuse and neglect, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Bill Mercer (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-05 (Chapter Number Assigned); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB694-2025
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Montana HB 694
- State: Montana
- Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025)
- Title: Revise laws related to child abuse and neglect
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-02-24
- Last action: 2025-05-05, Chapter Number Assigned
- Sponsor: Bill Mercer (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Family Law, Law Enforcement, Minors
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 5 (184 yes, 160 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 2

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Fewer removals, more reunification support: benefit, medium. Child protective services cannot remove a child based only on an allegation. The agency must have reasonable cause to believe the child faces imminent harm before removal. If your child is removed, the department must support reunification. It must consider whether court-ordered support payments ma…
- Safer placements and faster family notice: mixed, medium. When a child is removed, the department prioritizes placing with extended family, including fictive kin, in the least restrictive, close-to-home setting. Before approving any home, it checks if anyone living there has a conviction for seriously harming children. Relatives can join a voluntary regis…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Bill Mercer (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Dennis Lenz (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-10 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 30 | 18 |   |
| 2025-04-09 | Senate | AMD-HB0694.002.002 Emrich D/PASS | fail | 4 | 44 |   |
| 2025-04-09 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 36 | 14 |   |
| 2025-03-07 | House | Vote | pass | 57 | 42 |   |
| 2025-03-05 | House | Do Pass | pass | 57 | 42 |   |

## Actions (28)

- 2025-05-05: Chapter Number Assigned (House)
- 2025-05-01: Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-04-22: Transmitted to Governor (House)
- 2025-04-21: Signed by President (Senate)
- 2025-04-18: Signed by Speaker (House)
- 2025-04-11: Returned from Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-10: Sent to Enrolling (House)
- 2025-04-10: 3rd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-04-09: 2nd Reading (Senate)
- 2025-04-09: 2nd Reading Motion to Amend (Senate)
- 2025-04-08: Committee Report (Senate)
- 2025-04-07: Committee Executive Action (Senate)
- 2025-04-07: Hearing Canceled (Senate)
- 2025-04-02: Hearing (Senate)
- 2025-03-17: Referred to Committee (Senate)
- 2025-03-14: 1st Reading (Senate)
- 2025-03-07: Transmitted to Senate (House)
- 2025-03-07: 3rd Reading (House)
- 2025-03-05: 2nd Reading (House)
- 2025-03-01: Committee Report (House)
- 2025-03-01: Committee Executive Action (House)
- 2025-02-27: Hearing (House)
- 2025-02-25: Rereferred to Committee (House)
- 2025-02-25: Hearing Canceled (House)
- 2025-02-24: Hearing (House)
- 2025-02-24: 1st Reading (House)
- 2025-02-24: Referred to Committee (House)
- 2025-02-24: Introduced (House)

## Bill text

- Enrolled, 2025-04-10: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=b3b7df61-40d0-4345-8b36-9a2f06ff7037)
- As Amended (Version 2), 2025-03-01: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=7828c284-0239-4da2-a899-535f87e45f0d)
- Introduced, 2025-02-24: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=0cd508d0-89a6-4c5b-9b62-a566bb683641)

## Related bills

- SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law (signed)
- HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit (vetoed)
- HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws (vetoed)
- SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act (vetoed)
- SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed)
- SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed)

## Sources
- [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=b3b7df61-40d0-4345-8b36-9a2f06ff7037)
- [As Amended (Version 2) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=7828c284-0239-4da2-a899-535f87e45f0d)
- [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=0cd508d0-89a6-4c5b-9b62-a566bb683641)

## Related
- [SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB437-2025)
- [HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB831-2025)
- [HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB628-2025)
- [SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB410-2025)
- [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025)
- [SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025)
- [Montana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana/bills)
- [Montana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana)
- [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB694-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).