HB 1256 Summary

• Establishes a Joint Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect with seven senate and seven house members to study child abuse reporting, investigation systems, and foster care improvements, with sunset provision on January 15, 2018.

• Expands privacy protections for home addresses and vehicle information of parole officers, pretrial officers, peace officers, and judicial officers (including state and federal judges) in motor vehicle records.

• Modifies drug trafficking offense thresholds, increasing cocaine base trafficking amounts from 2-6 grams to 28-280 grams and adjusting sentencing requirements for first and second-degree trafficking crimes.

• Establishes restrictions on custody and parenting rights for individuals who fathered children through rape, denying custody unless biological parents were married, and requires payment of legal fees to the prevailing party.

• Enacts various technical updates to court procedures, adoption consent requirements, property exemptions from execution, trespasser liability standards, and restitution collection processes for prosecuting and circuit attorneys.