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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho House Bill 682 Revises Legal Conditions for Terminating Parental Rights
Last action · February 17, 2026: Reported Printed and Referred to Judiciary, Rules & Administration
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What This Bill Proposed
JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS – Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding termination of parent and child relationships.
Changes the legal standards and evidence required for state courts to sever parental rights, directly affecting families, children in state custody, and adoption proceedings across Idaho.
- House Bill 682 was introduced by the Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee during the 2026 Second Regular Session of the Sixty-eighth Idaho Legislature. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Parents
Subject to updated statutory conditions, evidentiary standards, and best-interest factors governing the termination of parental rights.
Children
Subject to revised legal determinations regarding their best interests, safety, and custody arrangements.
Substitute Caretakers
Their established bonds with children are explicitly factored into best-interest determinations during termination proceedings.
Key Facts
- Courts may grant an order terminating a parent-child relationship if it is in the best interests of the child and specific conditions exist, such as abandonment, neglect, abuse, non-biological presumptive parenthood, prolonged inability to discharge responsibilities, or substantial incarceration.
- For cases filed pursuant to chapter 16, title 16, Idaho Code, additional best-interest factors include the parent's efforts to safely reunify, ability to live a law-abiding life, and the child's bond with a substitute caretaker.
- Courts may rebuttably presume termination is in the best interests of the child if conception resulted from rape, incest, lewd conduct, or sexual abuse, or in cases of chronic abuse, extreme neglect, torture, or murder/manslaughter of a child.
- Courts are explicitly prohibited from granting an order terminating a parent-child relationship based on the child's immunization status.
Show all 5 facts
- Parents with a disability have the right to provide evidence regarding how adaptive equipment or supportive services enable them to carry out parenting responsibilities, though the state has no new obligation to purchase or provide such equipment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court terminate parental rights based on a child's vaccination status?
What additional factors do courts consider for termination cases arising from child welfare proceedings?
Does the bill require the government to provide adaptive equipment for parents with disabilities?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 17, 2026CommitteeReported Printed and Referred to Judiciary, Rules & Administration
- Feb 16, 2026IntroducedIntroduced, read first time, referred to JRA for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Immunization Status Protection
The bill introduces an explicit statutory prohibition against using a child's immunization status as grounds for terminating parental rights.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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