Utah has 2,600 children in custody/foster care on any given day. The number of kids taken from the compound in Texas amounts to just under a sixth of that total but is about half the number kids removed from Utah homes in a year.

Utah's Division of Child and Family Services officials, which have been asked for and are supplying Texas officials with background information and the cultural context of the polygamous families living there, is required to follow an intricate set of specific guidelines in any case.

"We cannot speculate as to what we would in this or any case because each one is different and each has to be assessed," said DCFS spokeswoman Elizabeth Sollis. "Removal of a child from the child's home affects protected, constitutional rights of the parent and has a dramatic, long-term impact."

In Utah, 55 percent of children entering foster care leave within 12 months, and 41 percent are reunified with their parents. Last year, 13 percent of children leaving foster care were placed with relatives.

As Texas authorities have said, the first priority in any abuse case, "is the safety of the children, and we always strive to keep families intact whenever possible," Sollis said.

"To remove a child from a home you have to show abuse or neglect," said Salt Lake City attorney Lauren Barros, who added if authorities had found evidence of unlawful underage marriages, that could also be used as probable cause.

Utah guardian ad litem, Evan Nebeker, said there is typically three ways state welfare officials can remove a child from a home.

In the utmost urgent cases, Nebeker said authorities can seek an immediate warrant showing "exigent circumstances" or some immediate danger to a child. Typically this type of warrant is sought in connection to the arrest of a parent in which the child is left behind unattended.

The most common method is to seek a search warrant where the state shows "probable cause" that a child's health and safety is in danger and that notification to the parent of such action could pose further danger to a child.

In other less urgent cases, the state can petition a court for removal where a parent has advance notice to appear before a juvenile judge and plead his or her case.

Nebeker said in Utah, a hearing is required within 72 hours of a child's removal from the home. Texas welfare officials have said that used to be the case but Texas law now requires a hearing within 14 days.

At the time of the hearing, the state must show its reasons for the warrant and a judge must determine if continued custody of the child by the state is needed. Nebeker said the state must show "clear and convincing evidence" of abuse, which is an easier standard to prove than "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is typically used in criminal cases.