HB5178 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 20289 JRC 33740 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB5178

Introduced 2/10/2026, by Rep. Anne Stava

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Supervised Parenting Safety and Fairness Act. Makes legislative findings. Requires that before a court may order supervised parenting time, it must determine whether qualified supervisors are reasonably available within the child's geographic area and shall document the inquiry. Requires that if supervision is warranted, the court may not order or permit unsupervised parenting time solely because no qualified supervisor is available. Provides that if no qualified supervisor is available, the court shall maintain the restriction on unsupervised parenting time and order one or more statutorily authorized alternatives, including temporary suspension of in-person parenting time, virtual contact, therapeutic supervised contact, or other protective measures necessary to ensure safety. Provides a rebuttable presumption of supervised parenting time: (1) in any case in which that parent has committed abuse against the child or the other parent based on a preponderance of the evidence; (2) when the other parent has an active order of protection against the parent in question which has been upheld or extended after a hearing. Provides that evidence of abuse may not be given weight if it appears more probable than not to be manufactured or the product of coaching or fabricated, unless and until it can be independently corroborated.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Supervised Parenting Safety and Fairness Act.

Section 5. Findings and purpose.

(a) The General Assembly makes the following findings:

(1) supervised parenting time is a critical safety measure when a parent poses a risk to a child or the other parent;

(2) courts sometimes order supervision without verifying the actual availability of qualified supervisors resulting in unsafe defaults to unsupervised parenting time;

(3) courts often require a safe or protective parent to pay for supervision or programs necessitated solely by the conduct of the other parent; and

(4) process and evidentiary rules should protect children and protective parents from being re-victimized by litigation tactics.

(b) The purpose of this Act is to ensure that supervision is not bypassed because of a lack of available supervisors to ensure that determinations of safety and conflict are made using trauma-informed and evidence-based standards and to protect protective parents and children from misclassification and procedural misuse.

Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Abuse" for the purposes of this Act, means conduct including, but not limited to, domestic violence, sexual violence, limitation of freedom, coercive control, imposed isolation, psychological or emotional abuse, stalking or harassment, or persistent and vexatious misuse of court or legal procedure to continue abuse after separation.

"Qualified supervisor" means a court-approved individual or program meeting established standards for supervised parenting time.

"Supervised parenting time" means parenting time conducted in the presence of a qualified supervisor.

"Court-appointed officers" means guardians ad litem, parenting coordinators, court evaluators, and other persons appointed by the court to assess parenting, safety, or risk and to advocate for the best interests of the child.

Section 15. Verification of supervisor availability.

(a) Before ordering supervised parenting time, the court must determine whether qualified supervisors are reasonably available within the child's geographic area and document the inquiry.

(b) If supervision is warranted, the court may not order or permit unsupervised parenting time solely because no qualified supervisor is available.

(c) If no qualified supervisor is available, the court must maintain the restriction on unsupervised parenting time and order one or more statutorily authorized alternatives, including temporary suspension of in-person parenting time, virtual contact, therapeutic supervised contact, or other protective measures necessary to ensure safety.

Section 20. Necessity of supervision.

(a) There is a rebuttable presumption of supervised parenting time:

(1) in any case in which that parent has committed abuse against the child or the other parent based on a preponderance of the evidence;

(2) if the other parent has an active order of protection against the parent that has been upheld or extended after a hearing.

(b) Nothing in this Section may be interpreted to prohibit a court from deeming supervision to be necessary in other circumstances.

(c) Evidence of abuse may not be given weight if it appears more probable than not to be manufactured or the product of coaching or fabricated, unless it can be independently corroborated.