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Tags: montana | children | transgender | cps | warrants

Montana Couple: State Took Child Without Warrant

By    |   Thursday, 23 May 2024 02:02 PM EDT

A couple in Montana who say they lost custody of their 14-year-old daughter after opposing a gender transition filed a lawsuit alleging the teen was removed from their care without a warrant.

The Daily Montanan reported that Todd and Krista Kolstad, the girl's father and stepmother, filed a federal suit against the state's Child Protective Services this week, claiming that social workers took their child without getting a judge to authorize a warrant.

The Kolstads also allege that their civil rights were violated and their religious freedoms were ignored when the state placed their daughter in a psychiatric facility in Wyoming instead of Montana. State authorities then barred them from communicating with the teen, they said.

The chain of events began last year, when the Kolstads said their daughter, identified as "H.K." in court documents, told them that she identifies as transgender and wanted to transition to a male.

The couple said they refused to grant the teen's request because they hold strong religious beliefs.

H.K. was reportedly admitted to a hospital last summer for inpatient psychiatric care after claiming to have ingested a mixture of ibuprofen and toilet bowl cleaner. State officials said at the time that they were justified in removing H.K. from the Kolstads' home due to concerns about the risk of suicide.

The Kolstads said state social workers lied about H.K. facing "an imminent risk of physical harm" in an affidavit and omitted any mention of their religious convictions.

"Seizing a child without a warrant is excusable only when officials have reasonable cause to believe that the child is likely to experience serious bodily harm in the time that would be required to obtain a warrant," the complaint states.

"(CPS) knew that H.K. was not facing an imminent substantial risk of serious harm when they seized her on Aug. 22.  Defendants' deceit of the state court made the court's proceedings against the Kolstads a sham from start to finish."

According to the lawsuit, the state said it was trying to find a psychiatric placement for the child when it took custody of her.

The Kolstads say they were supportive of psychiatric care for H.K. but wanted a placement in Montana because they feared the transition process might be started out of state against their wishes.

Because the issue is still being litigated in state courts, the couple believed Montana banned medical support for teens who want to transition, the suit states.

The state initially sent H.K. to a Wyoming facility and later to a group home in Billings, Montana, before she went to live with her mother in Canada.

Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte directed Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras to review the case earlier this year after public concern was raised when the Kolstads took their case to the media.

According to the New York Post, Juras' investigation found that "the court have followed state policy and law in their handling of this tragic case" and Gianforte supported the social workers.

In a statement to the Post, the governor's office said that the state does not remove minors from their homes in order to provide gender transitions and does not use public funds to pay for such services.

Nicole Weatherholtz

Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


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A couple in Montana who say they lost custody of their 14-year-old daughter after opposing a gender transition filed a lawsuit alleging the teen was removed from their care without a warrant.
montana, children, transgender, cps, warrants
533
2024-02-23
Thursday, 23 May 2024 02:02 PM
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