Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3698 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: White of Bell H.B. No. 3698
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to nonbinding dispute resolution proceedings conducted by
7	7	religious organizations or authorities.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 154, Civil Practice and
10	10	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 154.074 to read as
11	11	follows:
12	12	Sec. 154.074. NONBINDING DISPUTE RESOLUTION THROUGH
13	13	RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION OR AUTHORITY. (a) Notwithstanding Section
14	14	110.003, a religious organization or authority that provides a
15	15	nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding shall provide a
16	16	disclosure statement to each party to the proceeding. The
17	17	disclosure must state that:
18	18	(1) the organization or authority conducting the
19	19	nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding is not a court of law;
20	20	(2) a nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding that
21	21	results in a settlement agreement is not binding on the parties and
22	22	does not have the force of law unless and until a judge signs the
23	23	settlement agreement;
24	24	(3) after the parties have signed the settlement
25	25	agreement and the agreement is filed with the clerk of the court,
26	26	the agreement may be modified by agreement of the parties if the
27	27	disclosure is signed and witnessed in accordance with Subsection
28	28	(c) and attached to the agreement when filed;
29	29	(4) judges are bound by public policy imperatives and
30	30	will not sign a settlement agreement that is void on its face by
31	31	virtue of the application of foreign law to the dispute that
32	32	violates the public policy of this state, meaning an agreement that
33	33	violates good morals or natural justice or is prejudicial to the
34	34	general interests of the citizens of this state;
35	35	(5) the parties recognize that a judge who signs the
36	36	settlement agreement is unable to review the terms and conditions
37	37	of agreement formation for compliance with public policy standards
38	38	or procedural due process requirements and that only a court
39	39	hearing or binding arbitration process will provide review of
40	40	important aspects of a contract or marriage formation or
41	41	dissolution or an arbitration for:
42	42	(A) the validity and scope of any arbitration
43	43	agreement between the parties;
44	44	(B) compliance of an arbitration proceeding with
45	45	proper procedures and due process;
46	46	(C) whether any resulting decision is irrational
47	47	or void as against the public policy of this state;
48	48	(D) the entitlement of a party to adequate notice
49	49	and representation by an attorney;
50	50	(E) the obligation of an arbitrator to disclose
51	51	information relevant to the arbitrator's impartiality; and
52	52	(F) the inability of a party to agree to the
53	53	unreasonable restriction of the party's right to notice or
54	54	arbitrator disclosure or to waive the right to attorney
55	55	representation; and
56	56	(6) a party has the right to petition a court to
57	57	establish a fact or condition leading to or contained in the
58	58	settlement agreement, subject to the applicable statute of
59	59	limitations.
60	60	(b) A religious organization or authority that provides
61	61	nonbinding dispute resolution proceedings shall include in any and
62	62	all of the organization's or authority's training or governing
63	63	materials for nonbinding dispute resolution proceedings:
64	64	(1) a reference to the requirement that the parties to
65	65	a nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding sign the disclosure
66	66	statement described by Subsection (a);
67	67	(2) a copy of a form containing the required
68	68	disclosure statement; and
69	69	(3) a statement that child custody or child support
70	70	disputes may not be addressed through a nonbinding dispute
71	71	resolution proceeding.
72	72	(c) Each party to a nonbinding dispute resolution
73	73	proceeding provided by a religious organization or authority must
74	74	sign the disclosure statement described by Subsection (a) in the
75	75	presence of a subscribing witness before the proceeding commences.
76	76	If the parties file the resulting settlement agreement with the
77	77	clerk of a court to obtain the signature of a judge, the judge must
78	78	also sign the disclosure statement.
79	79	(d) A religious organization or authority that provides
80	80	nonbinding dispute resolution proceedings shall maintain all files
81	81	related to a nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding, regardless
82	82	of whether the proceeding resulted in a settlement agreement. The
83	83	files shall be kept at a physical location where the religious
84	84	organization or authority meets and, on request, presented for
85	85	review by any person.
86	86	(e) A religious organization or authority may not address
87	87	child custody or child support disputes through a nonbinding
88	88	dispute resolution proceeding.
89	89	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
90	90	to a nonbinding dispute resolution proceeding that is commenced on
91	91	or after the effective date of this Act. A nonbinding dispute
92	92	resolution proceeding that is commenced before the effective date
93	93	of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
94	94	that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
95	95	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.