Texas HB 730 (2023): Rights Notices, Investigation Limits and Safety Placements

This bill is law. It took effect September 1, 2023.

The short answer

HB 730 changed what happens early in a CPS investigation. DFPS must now tell parents and alleged perpetrators about specific rights the first time it contacts them. The bill also limits when DFPS can reopen a closed investigation, raises the bar for court orders to enter a home, keeps court-ordered-services cases from placing a child outside the home, and puts time limits on parental child safety placements. The Governor signed it on June 9, 2023.

What it changes

Rights notices at first contact. HB 730 rewrote Tex. Fam. Code §261.307. When DFPS first contacts a parent or alleged perpetrator (the person DFPS says may have abused or neglected a child) after starting an investigation, it must give a written summary and a verbal notice. The written summary must list the known allegations. It must also explain that any statement the person makes to anyone may be used against them in a criminal case, to remove a child, or to end parental rights.

The verbal notice covers the right to:

• not speak with DFPS without a lawyer present, and to get help from a lawyer;
• a court-appointed lawyer, for a parent who is indigent (cannot afford one), if DFPS goes to court to remove the child or to order services;
• record any conversation or interview, knowing the recording may be shared under a court order;
• refuse to let the investigator into the home, or interview the child, without a court order;
• refuse to release medical or mental health records, or to allow a medical or psychological exam of the child;
• refuse a drug test; and
• talk to a lawyer before agreeing to a voluntary safety plan.

The investigator must document giving the verbal notice. DFPS must use a form to show the person got both notices, and must give a copy of the signed form to the person or their lawyer. If the person does not get the notices, information obtained from them cannot be used against them in any civil case. These rules apply to investigations of reports made on or after September 1, 2023. See Your Rights When Texas CPS Contacts You (Family Code §261.307) and CPS Drug Testing in Texas: What DFPS Policy Says.

Closed investigations stay closed. More than 60 days after an investigation is closed, DFPS may not reopen it or change its finding to say abuse or neglect happened. Before day 60, it may do so only for good cause. DFPS must also tell the parent, the parent's lawyer, the child's court-appointed advocates and others about any edits to its written investigation report, other than spelling or grammar fixes. See CPS Investigation Findings in Texas: Reason to Believe, Ruled Out and More.

Court orders to enter a home. Under Tex. Fam. Code §261.303, a court can order a family to let investigators in. HB 730 says the court does this only if it has good cause to believe the child faces imminent danger of "aggravated circumstances," or probable cause to believe entry is needed to protect the child. A hearing on such an order may not be "ex parte" (held without the family) unless there is no time for a full hearing. The order must state the court's findings on the evidence, and a party can get a copy. See Order in Aid of Investigation: When DFPS Asks a Court for Access (Family Code §261.303).

Ex parte hearings in removal cases. When a court holds an allowed ex parte hearing in a removal case, it must keep an audio or video recording or a court reporter transcript. A party can get a copy. DFPS must give notice of the hearing if it knows the parent has a lawyer.

Court-ordered services stay in the home. In a case under Tex. Fam. Code §264.203, the court may not use a temporary restraining order or temporary order to place the child outside the home or in DFPS conservatorship (state legal custody). See Court-Ordered Services in Texas CPS Cases (Family Code §264.203).

Parental child safety placements. A parental child safety placement is a temporary out-of-home placement with a caregiver, made by the parent under a written agreement DFPS approves. It can happen during an investigation or while the family is getting DFPS services. HB 730 added these rules:

• Before signing, DFPS must tell the parent and the caregiver they have the right to talk to a lawyer, and give them reasonable time to do it.
• The first agreement ends automatically after 30 days.
• For good cause, DFPS may make no more than two more agreements. Each time, it must tell the parents they may refuse.
• A child may not be kept out of the home this way for more than 90 days unless the parent and the parent's lawyer both sign, or a court orders it.
• Every agreement must state, "THIS AGREEMENT IS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY."
• DFPS must count these children in its reports on children removed from their homes, listed separately from court-ordered removals.

SB 614, passed the same session, contains the same safety-placement limits. See Family-Based Safety Services (FBSS) in Texas: What Families Should Know.

Which laws it affects

• Tex. Fam. Code §261.307: the first-contact written summary and verbal notice of rights.
• Tex. Fam. Code §261.301(l): the 60-day limit on reopening closed investigations.
• Tex. Fam. Code §261.303: court orders to enter a home, release records or examine a child.
• Family Code §261.3081 (new): notice of changes to an investigation report.
• Family Code §262.206: ex parte hearings in removal cases.
• Tex. Fam. Code §264.203 (subsections (e) and (n)): court-ordered services, plus new §264.2032 (a report on services ordered for children in safety placements).
• Family Code §264.901, §264.902 and new §264.907: parental child safety placements.

Related

• Your Rights When Texas CPS Contacts You (Family Code §261.307)
• Order in Aid of Investigation: When DFPS Asks a Court for Access (Family Code §261.303)
• CPS Investigation Findings in Texas: Reason to Believe, Ruled Out and More
• Court-Ordered Services in Texas CPS Cases (Family Code §264.203)
• Your Right to a Lawyer in a Texas CPS Case
• Texas SB 614 (2023): Time Limits on Parental Child Safety Placements: the companion 2023 law on parental child safety placements
• Texas HB 63 (2023): No More Anonymous Reports to the DFPS Hotline: the 2023 law ending anonymous hotline reports
• Texas SB 1141 (2025): Court Must Confirm CPS Gave Rights Notices: the 2025 law requiring the court to confirm these notices were given
• Texas HB 567 (2021): Neglect Definition, Removals and Court-Ordered Services: the 2021 law that first rewrote court-ordered services