By: RodrÃguez S.B. No. 817
(In the Senate - Filed February 26, 2015; March 3, 2015,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 15, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 15, 2015,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 817 By: Ellis
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the definitions of dating violence and family violence
for purposes of the issuance of a protective order.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 71.0021(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) "Dating violence" means an act, other than a defensive
measure to protect oneself, by an actor that:
(1) is committed against a victim or applicant for a
protective order:
(A) with whom the actor has or has had a dating
relationship; or
(B) because of the victim's or applicant's
marriage to or dating relationship with an individual with whom the
actor is or has been in a dating relationship or marriage; and
(2) is intended to result in physical harm, bodily
injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that
reasonably places the victim or applicant in fear of imminent
physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault.
SECTION 2. Section 71.004, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 71.004. FAMILY VIOLENCE. "Family violence" means:
(1) an act by a member of a family or household against
another member of the family or household that is intended to result
in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that
is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent
physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does
not include defensive measures to protect oneself;
(2) abuse, as that term is defined by Sections
261.001(1)(C), (E), [and] (G), (H), (I), (J), and (K), by a member
of a family or household toward a child of the family or household;
or
(3) dating violence, as that term is defined by
Section 71.0021.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a request for a protective order that is filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A request for a protective order filed
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the request is filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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