---
type: "Bill"
title: "Parents with disabilities."
description: "Specifies that it is the policy of the state to recognize the parenting rights of a parent regardless of whether the parent has a disability. Provides that the right of a person with a disability to parent the person's child may not be denied or restricted solely because the person has a disability. Provides that: (1) a court, in: (A) considering the appointment of a person as a guardian; (B) hearing an action to modify custody or an action to determine or modify parenting time; or (C) determining whether to grant a petition for adoption; and (2) the department of child services, in determining whether to grant a person a license to operate a foster family home; may not discriminate against, and shall take into consideration the provision of reasonable accommodations to, a person with a disability."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 259"
citation: "Indiana SB 259 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Child Support", "Custody", "and Visitation", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Department of Child Services", "GUARDIANSHIPS AND CONSERVATORSHIPS", "MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW", "PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David Niezgodski", "Edward Clere", "Jon Ford"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 30
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1531ce8f-52f2-4600-84fe-fe6830ef3a9b"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/senate/259"
source_hash: "03a907b589703256ea71470d34b64ddb737318ce8ed4445eeaa074f5f4f1fdb7"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 259 (2021) — Parents with disabilities.

Specifies that it is the policy of the state to recognize the parenting rights of a parent regardless of whether the parent has a disability. Provides that the right of a person with a disability to parent the person's child may not be denied or restricted solely because the person has a disability. Provides that: (1) a court, in: (A) considering the appointment of a person as a guardian; (B) hearing an action to modify custody or an action to determine or modify parenting time; or (C) determining whether to grant a petition for adoption; and (2) the department of child services, in determining whether to grant a person a license to operate a foster family home; may not discriminate against, and shall take into consideration the provision of reasonable accommodations to, a person with a disability.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0259/versions/SB0259.04.ENGH)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0259/versions/SB0259.05.ENRH)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0259/versions/SB0259.01.INTR)
4. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0259/versions/SB0259.03.COMH)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0259/versions/SB0259.02.COMS)

## Sponsors

- David Niezgodski — primary (person)
- Edward Clere — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Ann Vermilion — cosponsor (person)
- Eric Koch — coauthor (person)
- Erin Houchin — coauthor (person)
- Fady Qaddoura — coauthor (person)
- Gregory Porter — cosponsor (person)
- J.D. Ford — coauthor (person)
- John Crane — coauthor (person)
- Linda Rogers — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Mike Andrade — cosponsor (person)
- Mike Bohacek — coauthor (person)
- Ron Alting — coauthor (person)
- Ronald Grooms — coauthor (person)
- Shelli Yoder — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-11** Authored by Senator Niezgodski
- **2021-01-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25** Senator Ford Jon added as second author
- **2021-02-15** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-15** Senator Yoder added as coauthor
- **2021-02-16** Senators Bohacek, Crane, Ford J.D., Koch, Grooms added as coauthors
- **2021-02-18** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-22** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 154: yeas 49, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** House sponsor: Representative Clere
- **2021-02-22** Cosponsors: Representatives Porter and Andrade M
- **2021-02-22** Senator Alting added as coauthor
- **2021-02-22** Senator Houchin added as coauthor
- **2021-02-22** Senator Qaddoura added as coauthor
- **2021-02-22** Senator Rogers added as coauthor
- **2021-02-23** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2021-02-24** Referred to the House
- **2021-03-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-08** Amendment #2 (Clere) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-08** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-12** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 404: yeas 89, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-12** Representative Vermilion A added as cosponsor
- **2021-04-13** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-15** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-19** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 452: yeas 48, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-23** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-29** Public Law 146
- **2021-04-29** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1531ce8f-52f2-4600-84fe-fe6830ef3a9b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).