---
type: "Bill"
title: "Department of child services ombudsman."
description: "Provides that the office of the department of child services ombudsman (ombudsman office) shall (rather than may, under current law): (1) employ technical experts and other employees to carry out the purposes of the ombudsman office; (2) receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints alleging that the department of child services failed to protect the physical or mental health or safety of a child or failed to follow specific laws, rules, or written policies; (3) issue recommendations if: (A) the ombudsman office determines that a complaint has merit; or (B) an investigation by the ombudsman office reveals a problem with an agency, facility, or program; and (4) take other specified actions and undertake other specified initiatives. Provides that if a local child protection team is involved in the initial investigation of a matter, a different local child protection team shall (rather than may, under current law) assist the ombudsman office in the ombudsman office's investigation of the matter."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1307"
citation: "Indiana HB 1307 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["AGENCIES; Department of Child Services (DCS)", "CHILDREN AND MINORS; Generally"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Alex Burton", "J.D. Ford", "Stacey Donato"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 22
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-01-06"
last_action: "2026-02-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8537b5d6-4308-426c-889f-33333dfb3080"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/hb1307"
source_hash: "bc18e14f7ed4291012ba40ad421c8222cf09882381979ab509dc368eda738cc1"
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 HB 1307 (2026) — Department of child services ombudsman.

Provides that the office of the department of child services ombudsman (ombudsman office) shall (rather than may, under current law): (1) employ technical experts and other employees to carry out the purposes of the ombudsman office; (2) receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints alleging that the department of child services failed to protect the physical or mental health or safety of a child or failed to follow specific laws, rules, or written policies; (3) issue recommendations if: (A) the ombudsman office determines that a complaint has merit; or (B) an investigation by the ombudsman office reveals a problem with an agency, facility, or program; and (4) take other specified actions and undertake other specified initiatives. Provides that if a local child protection team is involved in the initial investigation of a matter, a different local child protection team shall (rather than may, under current law) assist the ombudsman office in the ombudsman office's investigation of the matter.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1307/HB1307.04.ENRS.pdf)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1307/HB1307.03.COMS.pdf)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1307/HB1307.02.COMH.pdf)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1307/HB1307.01.INTR.pdf)

## Votes

- HB 1307 - Burton - 3rd Reading — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- HB 1307 - Donato - 3rd Reading — **44–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Alex Burton — primary (person)
- J.D. Ford — primary (person)
- Stacey Donato — primary (person)
- Becky Cash — coauthor (person)
- Fady Qaddoura — cosponsor (person)
- Julie McGuire — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Victoria Garcia Wilburn — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-06** Authored by Representative Burton
- **2026-01-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-01-12** Representative McGuire added as coauthor
- **2026-01-22** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-01-27** Representative Cash added as coauthor
- **2026-01-28** Senate sponsors: Senators Donato, Ford J.D.
- **2026-01-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 125: yeas 93, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-01-28** Representative Garcia Wilburn added as coauthor
- **2026-01-29** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2026-02-02** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-09** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2026-02-09** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-12** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Senator Qaddoura added as cosponsor
- **2026-02-17** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 188: yeas 44, nays 1 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-02-19** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2026-02-19** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-18** Returned to the House without amendments `receipt`
- **2026-02-23** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-02-24** Public Law 33 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8537b5d6-4308-426c-889f-33333dfb3080`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).