---
type: "Bill"
title: "Require notice of parent legal rights in child protective services cases"
description: "Require notice of parent legal rights in child protective services cases"
jurisdiction: "us/states/mt"
legislature: "Montana Legislature"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 181"
citation: "Montana SB 181 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts (see also: Judges and Justices; Juries and Jurors)", "Minors (see also: Family Law)", "Social Services"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dennis Lenz"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 52
vote_count: 10
first_action: "2022-10-03T18:12:24+00:00"
last_action: "2023-07-18T21:40:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cd6f4b7d-c760-4c53-b6f7-7c8bcde34169"
source_url: "https://bills.legmt.gov/#/bill/20231/LC0534"
source_hash: "e8d73230cd473934d219329dfa01c5f71f4e7fdb96469c74c73acd1cb04160b2"
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-mt"]
---

# Montana SB 181 (2023) — Require notice of parent legal rights in child protective services cases

## Version chain

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

1. **SB0181.001.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4926)
2. **SB0181.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4922)
3. **SB0181.001.002_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4923)
4. **SB0181.003.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-condensed.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4925)
5. **SB0181.003.001_Amendments-in-Context_final-full.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4924)
6. **SB0181001SCS15249.slc.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4897)
7. **SB0181GovAmd.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=10383)
8. **SB0181_1.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4856)
9. **SB0181_2.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4855)
10. **SB0181_X.pdf** (committee substitute) — [source](https://api.legmt.gov/docs/v1/documents/getContent?documentId=4857)

## Votes

- (H) 2nd Reading Concurred — **68–30** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Governor's Proposed Amendments Adopted — **68–28** (pass) · lower
- (S) 3rd Reading Passed — **46–4** (pass) · upper
- (H) 2nd Reading Governor's Proposed Amendments Adopted — **70–29** (pass) · lower
- (S) 2nd Reading Passed — **42–6** (pass) · upper
- (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- (H) 3rd Reading Concurred — **67–29** (pass) · lower
- (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended — **13–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dennis Lenz — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-07-18T21:40:00+00:00** Chapter Number Assigned `became-law`
- **2023-07-18T14:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-07-12T14:30:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-11T19:07:35+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate Concurred in Governor's Proposed Amendments
- **2023-05-03T02:45:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Governor's Proposed Amendments Adopted `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage`
- **2023-05-03T00:00:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-05-02T23:33:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Governor's Proposed Amendments Adopted `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2023-05-02T20:15:00+00:00** (H) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-05-02T14:47:00+00:00** (S) Returned with Governor's Proposed Amendments
- **2023-04-24T16:50:00+00:00** (S) Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2023-04-24T14:30:00+00:00** (H) Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-19T16:00:00+00:00** (S) Signed by President `passage`
- **2023-04-18T01:09:17+00:00** (C) Printed - Enrolled Version Available `enrolled`
- **2023-04-18T01:09:16+00:00** (S) Returned from Enrolling
- **2023-04-14T13:56:50+00:00** (S) Sent to Enrolling
- **2023-04-13T19:53:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed as Amended by House `passage, passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-13T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 3rd Reading `reading-3`
- **2023-04-11T21:03:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading House Amendments Concurred `amendment-amendment, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-04-11T19:00:00+00:00** (S) Scheduled for 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2023-04-06T00:13:17+00:00** (H) Returned to Senate with Amendments
- **2023-04-05T21:32:00+00:00** (H) 3rd Reading Concurred `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-04-04T20:58:00+00:00** (H) 2nd Reading Concurred `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-03-24T20:23:00+00:00** (C) Printed - New Version Available
- **2023-03-24T19:54:00+00:00** (H) Committee Report--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-23T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Committee Executive Action--Bill Concurred as Amended
- **2023-03-22T16:08:23+00:00** (C) Amendments Available
- **2023-03-20T21:00:00+00:00** (H) Hearing
- **2023-03-11T15:11:24+00:00** (H) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-03-11T14:36:25+00:00** (H) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-02-01T21:41:26+00:00** (S) Transmitted to House
- **2023-01-31T22:13:00+00:00** (S) 3rd Reading Passed `passage, reading-3`
- **2023-01-30T21:15:00+00:00** (S) 2nd Reading Passed `reading-2, reading-2`
- **2023-01-26T20:09:00+00:00** (S) Committee Report--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-25T18:02:30+00:00** (S) Committee Executive Action--Bill Passed `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-23T22:00:11+00:00** (S) Hearing
- **2023-01-20T00:09:46+00:00** (C) Introduced Bill Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-18T20:09:22+00:00** (S) First Reading `reading-1`
- **2023-01-18T17:46:11+00:00** (S) Referred to Committee `referral-committee`
- **2023-01-17T23:14:41+00:00** (S) Introduced
- **2023-01-17T23:09:46+00:00** (C) Draft Delivered to Requester
- **2023-01-11T16:53:31+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-10T18:00:26+00:00** (C) Executive Director Final Review
- **2023-01-10T18:00:19+00:00** (C) Draft Ready for Delivery
- **2023-01-10T16:25:37+00:00** (C) Draft in Assembly
- **2023-01-10T00:08:03+00:00** (C) Executive Director Review
- **2023-01-09T22:01:28+00:00** (C) Bill Draft Text Available Electronically
- **2023-01-09T22:01:27+00:00** (C) Draft in Final Drafter Review
- **2023-01-09T20:41:39+00:00** (C) Draft in Input/Proofing
- **2023-01-09T19:08:05+00:00** (C) Draft to Drafter - Edit Review
- **2023-01-08T18:01:55+00:00** (C) Draft in Edit
- **2023-01-07T17:37:46+00:00** (C) Draft in Legal Review
- **2022-10-03T18:12:24+00:00** (C) Draft Request Received `receipt`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cd6f4b7d-c760-4c53-b6f7-7c8bcde34169`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Montana legislature records).