HB 2542 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Requiring child protective services (“CPS”) workers to record, via audio, all interactions during CPS visits.

HB 2542 requires Child Protective Services (CPS) workers to record audio during all investigation visits with individuals under investigation for child abuse or neglect allegations. This applies to every interaction between CPS staff and a person under investigation, with exceptions: audio recording must have the person's informed consent or a court order during home visits or private interviews. The bill mandates that CPS must conduct a face-to-face interview with the child within 14 days of receiving a report. This law directly affects CPS workers who must implement the recording requirement and families involved in active investigations.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 18, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to change the audio recording requirement from mandatory to permissive, allowing rather than requiring CPS to record interactions. The committee substitute also added new provisions for nonresident subpoenas, expanded court review standards for administrative subpoenas, and added personal liability protections for caseworkers.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from requiring audio recordings to permitting them, making the practice optional rather than mandatory for CPS investigations.

REQUIREMENT

Changed audio recording requirement from mandatory ('shall be audio recordings made') to permissive ('There may be audio recordings made')

Added requirement that audio recordings be stored for the duration the case is open

ENFORCEMENT

Added new provision allowing subpoenas to be served on nonresidents by the circuit court of the county where the investigation occurs

Added new standards for when courts must enforce administrative subpoenas, requiring findings on legitimacy, relevance, scope, and procedural compliance

DEFINITION

Added new subsection (h) protecting CPS caseworkers from personal liability for professional decisions, with exceptions for gross negligence, willful misconduct, or intentional misconduct

TIMELINE

Removed the 72-hour face-to-face interview requirement for imminent danger cases, while keeping the 14-day requirement for other cases

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

To House Health and Human Resources

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Committee

To House Human Services

lower

Feb 18, 2025

Committee

To House Health and Human Resources

lower

Feb 18, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Feb 18, 2025

Committee

To Health and Human Resources then Judiciary

lower

1 primary · 7 co-sponsors