82R577 KSD-F
By: Thompson H.B. No. 906
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to appointments made in and the appeal of certain suits
affecting the parent-child relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 107.013, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A parent who the court has determined is indigent for
purposes of this section is presumed to remain indigent during the
pendency of the suit unless the court, after reconsideration on the
motion of the parent, the attorney ad litem for the parent, or the
attorney representing the governmental entity, determines that the
parent is no longer indigent due to a material and substantial
change in the parent's financial circumstances.
SECTION 2. Part 1, Subchapter B, Chapter 107, Family Code,
is amended by adding Section 107.014 to read as follows:
Sec. 107.014. DURATION OF APPOINTMENT. Subject to Section
107.016, in a suit filed by a governmental entity seeking
termination of the parent-child relationship or the appointment of
a conservator for a child, an attorney appointed under this
subchapter to serve as an attorney ad litem for the child, as an
attorney in the dual role, or as an attorney ad litem for a parent
shall continue to serve in that capacity until the earliest of:
(1) the date the suit is dismissed;
(2) the date all appeals are exhausted or waived; or
(3) the date the attorney is relieved of the attorney's
duties in the suit and replaced by another attorney after a finding
of good cause is rendered by the court on the record.
SECTION 3. Section 109.002(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) An appeal from a final order rendered in a suit, when
allowed under this section or under other provisions of law, shall
be as in civil cases generally under the Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure. An appeal in a suit in which termination of the
parent-child relationship is in issue shall be given precedence
over other civil cases and shall be accelerated by the appellate
courts. The procedures for an accelerated appeal under the Texas
Rules of Appellate Procedure apply to an appeal in which the
termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue.
SECTION 4. Sections 263.405(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) An appeal of a final order rendered under this
subchapter is governed by the procedures [rules of the supreme
court] for accelerated appeals in civil cases under the Texas Rules
of Appellate Procedure [and the procedures provided by this
section]. The appellate court shall render its final order or
judgment with the least possible delay.
(b) A final order rendered under this subchapter must
contain the following prominently displayed statement in boldfaced
type, in capital letters, or underlined: "A PARTY AFFECTED BY THIS
ORDER HAS THE RIGHT TO APPEAL. AN APPEAL IN A SUIT IN WHICH
TERMINATION OF THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IS SOUGHT IS GOVERNED
BY THE PROCEDURES FOR ACCELERATED APPEALS IN CIVIL CASES UNDER THE
TEXAS RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE TEXAS
RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE FOR ACCELERATED APPEALS MAY RESULT IN
THE DISMISSAL OF THE APPEAL." [Not later than the 15th day after the
date a final order is signed by the trial judge, a party who intends
to request a new trial or appeal the order must file with the trial
court:
[(1) a request for a new trial; or
[(2) if an appeal is sought, a statement of the point
or points on which the party intends to appeal.]
(c) The supreme court shall adopt rules accelerating the
disposition by the appellate court and the supreme court of an
appeal of a final order granting termination of the parent-child
relationship rendered under this subchapter. [A motion for a new
trial, a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, or any
other post-trial motion in the trial court does not extend the
deadline for filing a notice of appeal under Rule 26.1(b), Texas
Rules of Appellate Procedure, or the deadline for filing an
affidavit of indigence under Rule 20, Texas Rules of Appellate
Procedure.]
SECTION 5. Sections 263.405(b-1), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h),
and (i), Family Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. The Supreme Court of Texas shall adopt rules of
appellate procedure as required by Section 263.405(c), Family Code,
as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, but not later than March 1, 2012.
SECTION 7. Sections 107.013(e) and 107.014, Family Code, as
added by this Act, apply only to a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship pending in a trial court on or filed on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 8. Sections 109.002(a) and 263.405(a) and (b),
Family Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a final order
rendered on or after the effective date of this Act. A final order
rendered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the order was rendered, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.