H.F. 564 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 232.103A Transfer of jurisdiction 1 related to child in need of assistance case —— bridge order. 2 1. The juvenile court may close a child in need of 3 assistance case by transferring jurisdiction over the child’s 4 custody, physical care, and visitation to the district court 5 through a bridge order, if all of the following criteria are 6 met: 7 a. The child has been adjudicated a child in need 8 of assistance in an active juvenile court case, and a 9 dispositional order in that case is in place. 10 b. Paternity of the child has been legally established, 11 including by operation of law due to the individual’s marriage 12 to the mother at the time of conception, birth, or at any 13 time during the period between conception and birth of the 14 child, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by 15 administrative order when authorized by state law. 16 c. The child is safely placed by the juvenile court with a 17 parent. 18 d. There is not a current district court order for custody 19 in place. 20 e. The juvenile court has determined that the child in need 21 of assistance case can safely close once orders for custody, 22 physical care, and visitation are entered by the district 23 court. 24 f. A parent qualified for a court-appointed attorney in the 25 juvenile court case. 26 2. When the criteria specified in subsection 1 are met, any 27 party to a child in need of assistance proceeding in juvenile 28 court may file a motion with the juvenile court for a bridge 29 order under subsection 1. Such motion shall be set for hearing 30 by the juvenile court no less than thirty days nor more than 31 ninety days from the date of filing the motion. The juvenile 32 court, on its own motion, may set a hearing on the issue of a 33 bridge order if such hearing is set no less than thirty days 34 from the date of notice to the parties. 35 -1- LSB 2518HV (3) 86 pf/nh 1/ 4

H.F. 564 3. The juvenile court shall designate the petitioner and 1 respondent for the purposes of the bridge order. A bridge 2 order shall only address matters of custody, physical care, and 3 visitation. All other matters, including child support, shall 4 be filed by separate petition or by action of the child support 5 recovery unit, and shall be subject to existing applicable 6 statutory provisions. 7 4. Upon transferring jurisdiction from the juvenile court 8 to the district court, the clerk of court shall docket the 9 case. Filing fees and other court costs shall not be assessed 10 against the parties. 11 5. The district court shall take judicial notice of the 12 juvenile file in any hearing related to the case. Records 13 contained in the district court case file that were copied or 14 transferred from the juvenile court file concerning the case 15 shall be subject to section 232.147 and other confidentiality 16 provisions of this chapter for cases not involving juvenile 17 delinquency, and shall be disclosed, upon request, to the child 18 support recovery unit without a court order. 19 6. Following the issuance of a bridge order, a party may 20 file a petition in district court for modification of the 21 bridge order for custody, physical care, or visitation. If 22 the petition for modification is filed within one year of 23 the filing date of the bridge order, the party requesting 24 modification shall not be required to demonstrate a substantial 25 change of circumstances but instead shall demonstrate that 26 such modification is in the best interest of the child. If 27 a petition for modification is filed within one year of the 28 filing date of the bridge order, filing fees and other court 29 costs shall not be assessed against the parties. 30 7. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require 31 appointment of counsel for the parties in the district court 32 action. 33 EXPLANATION 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 35 -2- LSB 2518HV (3) 86 pf/nh 2/ 4

H.F. 564 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 1 This bill provides for the issuance of a bridge order to 2 transfer jurisdiction related to a child in need of assistance 3 (CINA) case from the juvenile court to the district court. 4 Under the bill, the juvenile court may close a CINA case by 5 transferring jurisdiction over the child’s custody, physical 6 care, and visitation to the district court through a bridge 7 order, if: the child has been adjudicated a CINA in an active 8 juvenile court case, and a dispositional order in that case is 9 in place; paternity of the child has been legally established, 10 including by operation of law, by order of a court of competent 11 jurisdiction, or by administrative order when authorized by 12 state law; the child is safely placed by the juvenile court 13 with a parent; there is not a current district court order for 14 custody in place; the juvenile court has determined that the 15 CINA case can safely close once orders for custody, physical 16 care, and visitation are entered by the district court; and a 17 parent qualified for a court-appointed attorney in the juvenile 18 court case. 19 If all of the criteria specified are met, any party to a 20 CINA proceeding in juvenile court may file a motion with the 21 juvenile court for a bridge order. Such motion is required to 22 be set for hearing no less than 30 days and not more than 90 23 days from the date of filing the motion. The juvenile court, 24 on its own motion, may set a hearing on the bridge order if the 25 hearing is set no less than 30 days from the date of notice to 26 the parties. 27 The bill directs the juvenile court to designate the 28 petitioner and respondent for the bridge order, which is 29 limited to addressing only matters of custody, physical care, 30 and visitation. All other matters, including child support, 31 are to be filed by separate petition or by action of the child 32 support recovery unit (CSRU) and are subject to existing 33 applicable statutory provisions. 34 Upon transferring jurisdiction, the clerk of court is 35 -3- LSB 2518HV (3) 86 pf/nh 3/ 4

H.F. 564 directed to docket the case. Filing fees and other court 1 costs are not to be assessed against the parties. The bill 2 provides that the district court shall take judicial notice 3 of the juvenile file in any hearing related to the case and 4 provides for confidentiality of the records contained in the 5 district court case file that were copied or transferred from 6 the juvenile court file and for disclosure of the records to 7 the CSRU, upon request, without a court order. 8 The bill provides for modification of the bridge order for 9 issues relating only to custody, physical care, or visitation. 10 If the petition for modification is filed within one year of 11 the filing date of the bridge order, the party requesting 12 modification is not required to demonstrate a substantial 13 change of circumstances, but instead must demonstrate that 14 such modification is in the best interest of the child. 15 Additionally, if a petition for modification is filed within 16 one year of the filing date of the bridge order, filing fees 17 and other court costs are not to be assessed against the 18 parties. Nothing in the bill is to be construed to require 19 appointment of counsel for the parties in the district court 20 action. 21 -4- LSB 2518HV (3) 86 pf/nh 4/ 4