CPS is at the door in Killeen. Do not talk to the caseworker first.

A knock from Child Protective Services — the investigation arm of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services — is not a conversation you should have unprepared. Killeen sits in Bell County. If DFPS removes a child, the case is heard in Bell County’s courts — typically in Belton, not at a Killeen city counter. Whatever you say to the caseworker can show up in an affidavit. Whatever you sign can be treated as an agreement. Call a lawyer first.

Natalie N. Fowler represents parents in DFPS investigations, adversary hearings, and termination proceedings. She is a former Travis County prosecutor who now does family law and child welfare from a Georgetown home base, with Bell County — including Killeen and Temple — in the service area. Fowler Legal, PLLC takes private-pay parent defense; she also has experience as court-appointed counsel in CPS cases. The first meeting is a free 30-minute Zoom. In-person meetings are by appointment only at a mutually agreed place — a law library is fine when that works for everyone. There is no public lobby and no walk-in office.

This is not a judgment about how you parent. It is about what the Department can prove, what a Bell County judge will actually do, and what you should not give away in the first 48 hours. For the full practice-area overview, see CPS Defense. Also see the Georgetown CPS city page.

Call before you talk to anyone

You are not required to let a caseworker into your home without a court order. You are not required to submit to drug testing without a court order. You have the right to know the specific allegations. You have the right to an attorney before you sit for an interview.

Being “uncooperative” can be written up in a way that hurts you. That is why this is not a speech about slamming the door. It is a speech about not improvising. Politely decline to discuss the facts of the investigation until you have counsel. Do not sign a safety plan on the hood of a car. Do not agree to services you do not understand. Do not let a caseworker interview your child while you guess at the right tone.

If CPS has already taken the children, the clock is not a metaphor. Under Texas Family Code § 262.201, a full adversary hearing must be held not later than the 14th day after the child was taken into possession, unless the court grants a statutory extension. What happens in those two weeks can shape the rest of the case.

The 14-day adversary hearing in Bell County

Bell County CPS cases are heard in the county’s district courts and county courts at law that handle child-welfare dockets — commonly in Belton. Killeen residence does not create a separate DFPS trial court in Killeen. The adversary hearing is not the final trial. It is the first time a judge hears you, not only the Department. Read more about what happens at the 14-day hearing.

At that hearing the court is asking, in substance: was there a danger to the child’s physical health or safety; was removal urgent; did DFPS make reasonable efforts consistent with the circumstances; and is there a continuing danger if the child goes home. The standard is not “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Parents still have the right to be heard, to have counsel, to challenge the evidence, and to put on their own.

Before the hearing, if requested, DFPS must produce certain evidence — including a witness list (other than Department staff) and copies of offense reports, photos, or recordings that may be used. That production only helps if someone asks for it and knows what to do with it. Appointed counsel, if you qualify as indigent, is a right. Waiting until you walk into the courtroom to ask for a lawyer burns the days you needed to prepare. Parents who can hire counsel do not have to wait for the appointment list.

Natalie uses those two weeks the way they are supposed to be used: get the petition, get the records, identify relatives who can take the child if the court will not send the child home that day, and decide what can be said in court without feeding the Department a better case. If you want the child placed with family instead of foster care, that work starts before the hearing, not after.

The court can postpone the hearing for a short, statutory window so a newly appointed or newly hired attorney can prepare. That is not extra time to “wait and see.” It is time to get ready.

Killeen realities: deployments, PCS, and who can take the child

Killeen families often have a military connection through Fort Cavazos. CPS cases do not pause for a deployment, a PCS order, or a spouse who is out of state. If one parent is unavailable, the court still needs a plan for placement, visitation logistics, and who can appear at the adversary hearing. Relatives on or off the installation, temporary guardianship questions, and how DFPS treats a parent who cannot attend in person are case-specific — say the facts on the first call. Do not assume command or family advocacy will substitute for counsel in the Bell County courtroom.

This firm handles parent defense in CPS / DFPS cases and private family law. It is not current criminal defense work. If you have a pending criminal charge tied to the same facts, say so; the CPS case and any criminal case still need coordinated thinking even when different lawyers handle each.

Medically contested removals

Some of the hardest Bell County removals do not start with a dirty house or a failed drug test. They start with a hospital. A physician reports suspected non-accidental trauma. DFPS moves within hours. Children are out of the home before a second opinion is ever sought.

A proper differential diagnosis considers all reasonable explanations for an injury — metabolic conditions, accidental injury, birth trauma, bleeding disorders — not only the explanation that points to abuse. When that step is skipped, parents are left trying to prove a negative while their children are in state custody.

Natalie has represented parents in medically contested CPS cases. She works with independent medical experts to review the records, challenge incomplete differentials, and present alternative explanations the original assessment never ruled out.

If your child was removed after a medical report and you believe the diagnosis is wrong or incomplete, say that on the first call. The window to challenge the medical basis is the same 14-day window as every other removal.

After the hearing: service plans and the long case

If the court leaves the children with DFPS, the case does not pause. Service plans, status hearings, and permanency hearings follow on the Bell County docket. Compliance matters. So does holding the Department to what it promised — visits, services, and reasonable efforts toward reunification. Texas law requires those efforts before the state seeks termination. Termination is permanent and must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. That is a higher civil standard. It is still a fight you should not walk into alone.

How we work for Killeen parents

Fowler Legal, PLLC is based in Georgetown. Bell County — Killeen and Temple included — is in the service area along with Williamson, Travis, Burnet, and Lampasas Counties. Austin is Travis County service only — there is no Austin office. Call (512) 765-5811 or email fowlerlegal@gmail.com. Free 30-minute Zoom. In-person by appointment only at a mutually agreed location.

If the children are already out of the home, say the removal date on the first call. That date is the clock.

Common questions

Should I let the caseworker in if I have nothing to hide?

Nothing to hide is not a legal strategy. You can be polite without giving an interview, a walk-through, or a signed plan. Call before you talk. (512) 765-5811.

Where is the adversary hearing if I live in Killeen?

Bell County child-welfare cases are heard in the county’s courts — typically in Belton. Killeen residence does not move the DFPS docket to a city court. Read more at the adversary-hearing resource.

My spouse is deployed / we have a PCS. Does CPS wait?

Usually no. Tell counsel the military timeline on the first call so placement and hearing logistics can be addressed inside the 14-day window.

Talk with Natalie

If CPS has called, come to the house, or taken the children in Killeen or elsewhere in Bell County, call Fowler Legal, PLLC at (512) 765-5811 or request a free 30-minute Zoom. Do not talk to the caseworker first. Georgetown-based. In-person by appointment only. Learn more about Natalie’s prosecutor-to-parent-defense background.