Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1236 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2142 MM-F
2	2	By: Rodríguez S.B. No. 1236
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to child custody evaluations; creating an offense.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 107.009(a), Family Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	(a) A guardian ad litem, an attorney ad litem, a child
12	12	custody evaluator, or an amicus attorney appointed under this
13	13	chapter is not liable for civil damages arising from an action
14	14	taken, a recommendation made, or an opinion given in the capacity of
15	15	guardian ad litem, attorney ad litem, child custody evaluator, or
16	16	amicus attorney.
17	17	SECTION 2. Sections 107.103(a) and (c), Family Code, as
18	18	redesignated and amended by Chapter 1252 (H.B. 1449), Acts of the
19	19	84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, are amended to read as
20	20	follows:
21	21	(a) The court, after notice and hearing or on agreement of
22	22	the parties, may order the preparation of a child custody
23	23	evaluation regarding:
24	24	(1) the circumstances and condition of:
25	25	(A) a child who is the subject of a suit;
26	26	(B) a party to a suit; and
27	27	(C) if appropriate, the residence of any person
28	28	requesting conservatorship of, possession of, or access to a child
29	29	who is the subject of the suit; and
30	30	(2) any issue or question relating to the suit at the
31	31	request of the court before or during the evaluation process.
32	32	(c) An order for a child custody evaluation must include:
33	33	(1) the name of each person who will conduct the
34	34	evaluation;
35	35	(2) the purpose of the evaluation; [and]
36	36	(3) a list of the basic elements of an evaluation
37	37	required by Section 107.109(c);
38	38	(4) a list of any additional elements of an evaluation
39	39	required by the court to be completed, including any additional
40	40	elements specified in Section 107.109(d); and
41	41	(5) the specific issues or questions to be addressed
42	42	in the evaluation.
43	43	SECTION 3. Sections 107.109(a), (c), and (d), Family Code,
44	44	are amended to read as follows:
45	45	(a) A child custody evaluator may not offer an opinion
46	46	regarding conservatorship of a child who is the subject of a suit or
47	47	possession of or access to the child unless each basic element of a
48	48	child custody evaluation as specified in [described by] this
49	49	section and each additional element ordered by the court, if any,
50	50	has been completed, unless the failure to complete an element is
51	51	satisfactorily explained as provided by Subsection (b).
52	52	(c) The basic elements of a child custody evaluation under
53	53	this subchapter consist of:
54	54	(1) a personal interview of each party to the suit
55	55	seeking conservatorship of, possession of, or access to the child;
56	56	(2) interviews, conducted in a developmentally
57	57	appropriate manner, of each child who is the subject of the suit who
58	58	is at least four years of age[, regardless of the age of the child,]
59	59	during a period of possession of each party to the suit but outside
60	60	the presence of the party;
61	61	(3) observation of each child who is the subject of the
62	62	suit, regardless of the age of the child, in the presence of each
63	63	party to the suit, including, as appropriate, during supervised
64	64	visitation, unless contact between a party and a child is
65	65	prohibited by court order or the person conducting the evaluation
66	66	has good cause for not conducting the observation and states the
67	67	good cause in writing provided to the parties to the suit before the
68	68	completion of the evaluation;
69	69	(4) an observation and, if the child is at least four
70	70	years of age [old], an interview of any child who is not a subject of
71	71	the suit who lives on a full-time basis in a residence that is the
72	72	subject of the evaluation, including with other children or parties
73	73	who are subjects of the evaluation, where appropriate;
74	74	(5) the obtaining of available information from
75	75	relevant collateral sources, including the review of:
76	76	(A) relevant school records;
77	77	(B) relevant physical and mental health records
78	78	of each party to the suit and each child who is the subject of the
79	79	suit;
80	80	(C) relevant records of the department obtained
81	81	under Section 107.111;
82	82	(D) criminal history information relating to
83	83	each child who is the subject of the suit, each party to the suit,
84	84	and each person who lives with a party to the suit; and
85	85	(E) records or information from any other
86	86	collateral source that may have relevant information;
87	87	(6) evaluation of the residence [home environment] of
88	88	each party seeking conservatorship of a child who is the subject of
89	89	the suit or possession of or access to the child, unless the
90	90	condition of the residence [home environment] is identified as not
91	91	being in dispute in the court order requiring the child custody
92	92	evaluation;
93	93	(7) for each individual residing in a residence
94	94	subject to the child custody evaluation, consideration of any
95	95	criminal history information and any contact with the department or
96	96	a law enforcement agency regarding abuse or neglect; and
97	97	(8) assessment of the relationship between each child
98	98	who is the subject of the suit and each party seeking possession of
99	99	or access to the child.
100	100	(d) The court may order additional elements of a child
101	101	custody evaluation under this subchapter, including the following
102	102	[consist of]:
103	103	(1) balanced interviews and observations of each child
104	104	who is the subject of the suit so that a child who is interviewed or
105	105	observed while in the care of one party to the suit is also
106	106	interviewed or observed while in the care of each other party to the
107	107	suit;
108	108	(2) an interview of each individual, including a child
109	109	who is at least four years of age, residing on a full-time or
110	110	part-time basis in a residence subject to the child custody
111	111	evaluation;
112	112	(3) evaluation of the residence [home environment] of
113	113	each party seeking conservatorship of a child who is the subject of
114	114	the suit or possession of or access to the child [, regardless of
115	115	whether the home environment is in dispute];
116	116	(4) observation of a child who is the subject of the
117	117	suit with each adult who lives in a residence that is the subject of
118	118	the evaluation;
119	119	(5) an interview, if the child is at least four years
120	120	of age, and observation of a child who is not the subject of the suit
121	121	but who lives on a full-time or part-time basis in a residence that
122	122	is the subject of the evaluation;
123	123	(6) psychometric testing, if necessary, consistent
124	124	with Section 107.110; and
125	125	(7) the performance of other tasks requested of the
126	126	evaluator by the court, including:
127	127	(A) a joint interview of the parties to the suit;
128	128	or
129	129	(B) the review of any other information that the
130	130	court determines is relevant.
131	131	SECTION 4. Section 107.110(d), Family Code, is amended to
132	132	read as follows:
133	133	(d) If a child custody evaluator considers psychometric
134	134	testing necessary but lacks specialized training or expertise to
135	135	use the specific tests under this section, the evaluator may
136	136	designate a licensed psychologist to conduct the testing and may
137	137	request additional orders from the court.
138	138	SECTION 5. Section 107.1101(b), Family Code, is amended to
139	139	read as follows:
140	140	(b) If a child custody evaluator identifies the presence of
141	141	a potentially undiagnosed serious mental illness experienced by an
142	142	individual who is a subject of the child custody evaluation and the
143	143	evaluator is not qualified by the evaluator's licensure,
144	144	experience, and training to assess a serious mental illness, the
145	145	evaluator shall make one or more appropriate referrals for a mental
146	146	examination of the individual and may request additional orders
147	147	from the court.
148	148	SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 107, Family Code, is
149	149	amended by adding Section 107.1111 to read as follows:
150	150	Sec. 107.1111. CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATOR ACCESS TO OTHER
151	151	RECORDS. (a) Notwithstanding any other state law regarding
152	152	confidentiality, a child custody evaluator appointed by a court is
153	153	entitled to obtain records that relate to any person residing in a
154	154	residence subject to a child custody evaluation from:
155	155	(1) a local law enforcement authority;
156	156	(2) a criminal justice agency;
157	157	(3) a juvenile justice agency;
158	158	(4) a community supervision and corrections
159	159	department created under Chapter 76, Government Code; or
160	160	(5) any other governmental entity.
161	161	(b) Except as provided by this section, records obtained by
162	162	a child custody evaluator under this section are confidential and
163	163	not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or to
164	164	disclosure in response to a subpoena or a discovery request.
165	165	(c) A child custody evaluator may disclose information
166	166	obtained under Subsection (a) in the child custody evaluation
167	167	report prepared under Section 107.113 only to the extent the
168	168	evaluator determines that the information is relevant to the child
169	169	custody evaluation or a recommendation made under this subchapter.
170	170	(d) A person commits an offense if the person recklessly
171	171	discloses confidential information obtained under Subsection (a)
172	172	in violation of this section. An offense under this subsection is
173	173	a Class A misdemeanor.
174	174	SECTION 7. Section 107.114(a), Family Code, is amended to
175	175	read as follows:
176	176	(a) The [Disclosure to the jury of the] contents of a child
177	177	custody evaluation report prepared under Section 107.113 are [is]
178	178	subject to the rules of evidence.
179	179	SECTION 8. Section 411.1285, Government Code, is amended to
180	180	read as follows:
181	181	Sec. 411.1285. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
182	182	INFORMATION: DOMESTIC RELATIONS OFFICE AND CHILD CUSTODY
183	183	EVALUATOR. (a) A domestic relations office created under Chapter
184	184	203, Family Code, is entitled to obtain from the department
185	185	criminal history record information that relates to a person who is
186	186	a party to a proceeding in which the domestic relations office is
187	187	providing services permitted under Chapter 203, Family Code.
188	188	(a-1) A domestic relations office created under Chapter
189	189	203, Family Code, or a child custody evaluator appointed under
190	190	Chapter 107, Family Code, is entitled to obtain from the department
191	191	criminal history record information that relates to [, or] a person
192	192	involved in a child custody evaluation under Chapter 107, Family
193	193	Code, in which the domestic relations office or child custody
194	194	evaluator has been appointed to conduct the child custody
195	195	evaluation.
196	196	(b) The department shall provide the domestic relations
197	197	office or the child custody evaluator with criminal history record
198	198	information not later than the 10th day after the date on which the
199	199	criminal history record information is requested.
200	200	(c) Criminal history record information requested under
201	201	this section, except for relevant information included in a report
202	202	of a child custody evaluation or adoption evaluation filed under
203	203	Chapter 107, Family Code, may not be released or disclosed by a
204	204	domestic relations office or a child custody evaluator to a person
205	205	other than the court ordering the child custody evaluation or
206	206	adoption evaluation except on court order or with the consent of the
207	207	person who is the subject of the criminal history record
208	208	information.
209	209	SECTION 9. Section 107.113(b), Family Code, is repealed.
210	210	SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act apply only
211	211	to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is filed on
212	212	or after the effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the
213	213	parent-child relationship filed before the effective date of this
214	214	Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application is
215	215	filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
216	216	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.