Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3316 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R8656 MCK-D
2	2	By: Frank H.B. No. 3316
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 161.001(b), Family Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	(b) The court may order termination of the parent-child
12	12	relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
13	13	(1) that the parent has:
14	14	(A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
15	15	possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
16	16	return;
17	17	(B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
18	18	possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
19	19	to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
20	20	and remained away for a period of at least three months;
21	21	(C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
22	22	possession of another without providing adequate support of the
23	23	child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
24	24	(D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
25	25	child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
26	26	physical or emotional well-being of the child;
27	27	(E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
28	28	child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
29	29	physical or emotional well-being of the child;
30	30	(F) failed to support the child in accordance
31	31	with the parent's ability during a period of one year ending within
32	32	six months of the date of the filing of the petition;
33	33	(G) abandoned the child without identifying the
34	34	child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
35	35	identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
36	36	diligence;
37	37	(H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
38	38	pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
39	39	during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
40	40	birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
41	41	mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
42	42	child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
43	43	child since the birth;
44	44	(I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
45	45	reasonable and lawful order of a court under Subchapter D, Chapter
46	46	261;
47	47	(J) been the major cause of[:
48	48	[(i) the failure of the child to be enrolled
49	49	in school as required by the Education Code; or
50	50	[(ii)] the child's absence from the child's
51	51	home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
52	52	substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
53	53	(K) executed before or after the suit is filed an
54	54	unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
55	55	rights as provided by this chapter;
56	56	(L) been convicted or has been placed on
57	57	community supervision, including deferred adjudication community
58	58	supervision, for being criminally responsible for the death or
59	59	serious injury of a child under the following sections of the Penal
60	60	Code, or under a law of another jurisdiction that contains elements
61	61	that are substantially similar to the elements of an offense under
62	62	one of the following Penal Code sections, or adjudicated under
63	63	Title 3 for conduct that caused the death or serious injury of a
64	64	child and that would constitute a violation of one of the following
65	65	Penal Code sections:
66	66	(i) Section 19.02 (murder);
67	67	(ii) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
68	68	(iii) Section 19.04 (manslaughter);
69	69	(iv) Section 21.11 (indecency with a
70	70	child);
71	71	(v) Section 22.01 (assault);
72	72	(vi) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
73	73	(vii) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
74	74	(viii) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual
75	75	assault);
76	76	(ix) Section 22.04 (injury to a child,
77	77	elderly individual, or disabled individual);
78	78	(x) Section 22.041 (abandoning or
79	79	endangering child);
80	80	(xi) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual
81	81	conduct);
82	82	(xii) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by
83	83	a child);
84	84	(xiii) Section 43.26 (possession or
85	85	promotion of child pornography);
86	86	(xiv) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual
87	87	abuse of young child or children);
88	88	(xv) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8)
89	89	(trafficking of persons); and
90	90	(xvi) Section 43.05(a)(2) (compelling
91	91	prostitution);
92	92	(M) had his or her parent-child relationship
93	93	terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that the
94	94	parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
95	95	substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;
96	96	(N) constructively abandoned the child who has
97	97	been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
98	98	Department of Family and Protective Services for not less than six
99	99	months, and:
100	100	(i) the department has made reasonable
101	101	efforts to return the child to the parent;
102	102	(ii) the parent has not regularly visited
103	103	or maintained significant contact with the child; and
104	104	(iii) the parent has demonstrated an
105	105	inability to provide the child with a safe environment;
106	106	(O) failed to comply with the provisions of a
107	107	court order that specifically established the actions necessary for
108	108	the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
109	109	permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department
110	110	of Family and Protective Services for not less than nine months as a
111	111	result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter 262 for
112	112	the abuse or neglect of the child;
113	113	(P) used a controlled substance, as defined by
114	114	Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, in a manner that endangered the
115	115	health or safety of the child, and:
116	116	(i) failed to complete a court-ordered
117	117	substance abuse treatment program; or
118	118	(ii) after completion of a court-ordered
119	119	substance abuse treatment program, continued to abuse a controlled
120	120	substance;
121	121	(Q) knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that
122	122	has resulted in the parent's:
123	123	(i) conviction of an offense; and
124	124	(ii) confinement or imprisonment and
125	125	inability to care for the child for not less than two years from the
126	126	date of filing the petition;
127	127	(R) been the cause of the child being born
128	128	addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance, other than a
129	129	controlled substance legally obtained by prescription;
130	130	(S) voluntarily delivered the child to a
131	131	designated emergency infant care provider under Section 262.302
132	132	without expressing an intent to return for the child; or
133	133	(T) been convicted of:
134	134	(i) the murder of the other parent of the
135	135	child under Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code, or under a law of
136	136	another state, federal law, the law of a foreign country, or the
137	137	Uniform Code of Military Justice that contains elements that are
138	138	substantially similar to the elements of an offense under Section
139	139	19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code;
140	140	(ii) criminal attempt under Section 15.01,
141	141	Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the law of
142	142	a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice that
143	143	contains elements that are substantially similar to the elements of
144	144	an offense under Section 15.01, Penal Code, to commit the offense
145	145	described by Subparagraph (i); or
146	146	(iii) criminal solicitation under Section
147	147	15.03, Penal Code, or under a law of another state, federal law, the
148	148	law of a foreign country, or the Uniform Code of Military Justice
149	149	that contains elements that are substantially similar to the
150	150	elements of an offense under Section 15.03, Penal Code, of the
151	151	offense described by Subparagraph (i); and
152	152	(2) that termination is in the best interest of the
153	153	child.
154	154	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 161, Family Code, is
155	155	amended by adding Section 161.1011 to read as follows:
156	156	Sec. 161.1011. FILING REQUIREMENT FOR PETITION RELATING TO
157	157	MORE THAN ONE CHILD. (a) Before filing a petition for the
158	158	termination of the parent-child relationship relating to more than
159	159	one child, the Department of Family and Protective Services must
160	160	determine whether any court has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction
161	161	of a child named in the petition. If a court is determined to have
162	162	continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of a child named in the
163	163	petition, the department shall file the petition in that court.
164	164	(b) If more than one court has continuing, exclusive
165	165	jurisdiction of a child named in the petition, the department shall
166	166	file the petition in the court that has most recently exercised
167	167	continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of a child named in the
168	168	petition.
169	169	SECTION 3. Section 161.206, Family Code, is amended by
170	170	adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
171	171	(a-1) In a suit filed by the Department of Family and
172	172	Protective Services seeking termination of the parent-child
173	173	relationship for both parents of the child, the court may order
174	174	termination of the parent-child relationship for both parents only
175	175	if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence grounds for the
176	176	termination of the parent-child relationship for each parent. An
177	177	order rendered under this subsection must state the grounds for
178	178	terminating the parent-child relationship for each parent.
179	179	SECTION 4. Section 263.401, Family Code, is amended to read
180	180	as follows:
181	181	Sec. 263.401. DISMISSAL AFTER ONE YEAR; NEW TRIALS;
182	182	EXTENSION. (a) Unless the court has commenced the trial on the
183	183	merits or granted an extension under Subsection (b) or (b-1), on the
184	184	first Monday after the first anniversary of the date the court
185	185	rendered a temporary order appointing the department as temporary
186	186	managing conservator, the court's jurisdiction over [court shall
187	187	dismiss] the suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by
188	188	the department that requests termination of the parent-child
189	189	relationship or requests that the department be named conservator
190	190	of the child is terminated and the suit is automatically dismissed
191	191	without a court order.
192	192	(b) Unless the court has commenced the trial on the merits,
193	193	the court may not retain the suit on the court's docket after the
194	194	time described by Subsection (a) unless the court finds that
195	195	extraordinary circumstances necessitate the child remaining in the
196	196	temporary managing conservatorship of the department and that
197	197	continuing the appointment of the department as temporary managing
198	198	conservator is in the best interest of the child. If the court
199	199	makes those findings, the court may retain the suit on the court's
200	200	docket for a period not to exceed 180 days after the time described
201	201	by Subsection (a). If the court retains the suit on the court's
202	202	docket, the court shall render an order in which the court:
203	203	(1) schedules the new date on which the suit will be
204	204	automatically dismissed if the trial on the merits has not
205	205	commenced, which date must be not later than the 180th day after the
206	206	time described by Subsection (a);
207	207	(2) makes further temporary orders for the safety and
208	208	welfare of the child as necessary to avoid further delay in
209	209	resolving the suit; and
210	210	(3) sets the trial on the merits on a date not later
211	211	than the date specified under Subdivision (1).
212	212	(b-1) If, after commencement of the initial trial on the
213	213	merits within the time required by Subsection (a) or (b), the court
214	214	grants a motion for a new trial or mistrial, or the case is remanded
215	215	to the court by an appellate court following an appeal of the
216	216	court's final order, the court shall retain the suit on the court's
217	217	docket and render an order in which the court:
218	218	(1) schedules a new date on which the suit will be
219	219	automatically dismissed if the new trial has not commenced, which
220	220	must be a date not later than the 180th day after the date on which:
221	221	(A) the motion for a new trial or mistrial is
222	222	granted; or
223	223	(B) the appellate court remanded the case;
224	224	(2) makes further temporary orders for the safety and
225	225	welfare of the child as necessary to avoid further delay in
226	226	resolving the suit; and
227	227	(3) sets the new trial on the merits for a date not
228	228	later than the date specified under Subdivision (1).
229	229	(c) If the court grants an extension under Subsection (b) or
230	230	(b-1) but does not commence the trial on the merits before the
231	231	dismissal date, the court's jurisdiction over [court shall dismiss]
232	232	the suit is terminated and the suit is automatically dismissed
233	233	without a court order. The court may not grant an additional
234	234	extension that extends the suit beyond the required date for
235	235	dismissal under Subsection (b) or (b-1), as applicable.
236	236	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
237	237	a suit affecting the parent-child relationship pending in a trial
238	238	court on the effective date of this Act or filed on or after the
239	239	effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the parent-child
240	240	relationship in which a final order is rendered before the
241	241	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
242	242	date the order was rendered, and the former law is continued in
243	243	effect for that purpose.
244	244	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.