§ 41-3-307 — Availability Of Prehearing Conferences

41-3-307 . Availability of prehearing conferences. (1) A prehearing conference must be held within 5 working days of a child's removal and before an emergency protective services hearing held by the court pursuant to 41-3-306 .
(2) A prehearing conference must include the following parties:
(a) the parents, parent, guardian, or other person having physical or legal custody of the child, if the parents, parent, guardian, or other person chooses to participate;
(b) the legal counsel of the participant provided for in subsection (2)(a);
(c) the child's legal counsel;
(d) the county attorney's office;
(e) the child protection investigator; and
(f) the child reunification specialist.
(3) To the greatest degree possible using available funding, the meetings must be conducted by an independent and trained facilitator.
(4) At a minimum, the meetings must involve discussion of:
(a) the child's current placement and options for continued placement if the child remains out of the home;
(b) whether other options exist for an in-home safety plan or resource that may allow the child to remain in the home;
(c) parenting time schedules; and
(d) treatment services for the family.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 2, Ch. 529, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 711, L. 2023; amd. Sec. 32, Ch. 716, L. 2023; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 57, L. 2025; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 63, L. 2025; amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 153, L. 2025.