Several bills sought to strengthen counsel for parents and kids

In 2024, the Missouri Senate introduced a handful of bills that would have added a right to counsel for indigent parents (or certain indigent parents) in abuse/neglect cases and strengthened the right to counsel for children in a few ways.

First, SB 1236 and SB 1040 would have changed appointment of counsel for indigent parents in dependency matters from discretionary to mandatory.  (To read about the current status of the right to counsel for parents in these cases, see Missouri , Legislation , Abuse/Neglect/Dependency – Accused Parents.)  The bills also would have created a right to counsel for children in truancy cases and would have replaced the child’s right to an attorney guardian ad litem with the “right to legal representation” in abuse/neglect and termination of parental rights matters.  SB 1236 went further than SB 1040, though.  It also would have added the right to counsel for certain children in parentage matters.  Both bills died in Committee.

Finally, HB 2033 / HB 2410 would have provided a right to counsel for certain indigent parents in abuse and adoption cases — namely, parents who were either under the age of 18 or considered “mentally ill or otherwise incompetent.”  These bills also died in Committee.