Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB557 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R877 KJE-F
2	2	By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 557
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the protection of certain information from disclosure
8	8	in suits affecting the parent-child relationship and to service of
9	9	process in those suits on a party whose information is protected
10	10	from disclosure.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 105.006(c), Family Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	(c) If a court finds after notice and hearing that requiring
15	15	a party to provide the information required by this section to
16	16	another party is likely to cause the child or a conservator
17	17	harassment, abuse, serious harm, or injury, or to subject the child
18	18	or a conservator to family violence, as defined by Section 71.004,
19	19	the court may omit the information from the final order and:
20	20	(1) order the information not to be disclosed to
21	21	another party; or
22	22	(2) render any other order the court considers
23	23	necessary.
24	24	SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 5, Family Code, is amended by
25	25	adding Chapter 112 to read as follows:
26	26	CHAPTER 112. SERVICE OF PROCESS ON PARTY WHOSE INFORMATION IS
27	27	PROTECTED FROM DISCLOSURE
28	28	Sec. 112.001. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OR DUPLICATION
29	29	PROHIBITED; CONTEMPT. (a) A party's information that is subject to
30	30	an order of nondisclosure under Section 105.006(c) may be
31	31	disclosed, copied, or otherwise duplicated only as provided by this
32	32	chapter.
33	33	(b) A person who violates the provisions of this chapter may
34	34	be punished for contempt of court.
35	35	Sec. 112.002. REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE. (a) A party who
36	36	files any pleading seeking relief, including contempt, with respect
37	37	to a final order under Section 105.006 against a party whose
38	38	information is subject to an order of nondisclosure under Section
39	39	105.006(c) may request disclosure of the other party's information
40	40	to a person authorized to serve process under this chapter solely
41	41	for purposes of notice and service of process.
42	42	(b) A party requesting disclosure under Subsection (a) must
43	43	state in writing that the party does not have information necessary
44	44	to satisfy the due process requirements for notice and service of
45	45	process to the other party.
46	46	Sec. 112.003. DISCLOSURE TO AUTHORIZED PERSON. (a) On
47	47	receiving a request under Section 112.002, the clerk of the court
48	48	shall provide to a person authorized to serve process under this
49	49	chapter a written copy of the current residence address of the party
50	50	whose information is subject to an order of nondisclosure under
51	51	Section 105.006(c).
52	52	(b) The information may only be provided in person at the
53	53	office of the clerk of the court.
54	54	(c) If a citation is issued, the clerk of the court shall
55	55	ensure that the respondent is identified on the citation by name
56	56	only.
57	57	Sec. 112.004. PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SERVE PROCESS.
58	58	Notwithstanding any other law, a party to the suit or other filing
59	59	is not authorized to serve process under this chapter.
60	60	Sec. 112.005. RETURN OF SERVICE. (a) The person who serves
61	61	process under this chapter shall document that process was served
62	62	by stating on the return of service that the respondent was served
63	63	at "the residence address in the clerk's data sheet" or a similar
64	64	statement. The statement satisfies the requirement of Rule
65	65	107(b)(6), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
66	66	(b) The person who serves process must return to the clerk
67	67	of the court the copy of the information provided under Section
68	68	112.003(a) with the return of service.
69	69	(c) On receipt of the copy of the information provided under
70	70	Section 112.003(a), the clerk of the court shall:
71	71	(1) notate on the court's docket the return of the
72	72	copy; and
73	73	(2) destroy the copy.
74	74	Sec. 112.006. WARNING REQUIRED. The clerk of the court
75	75	shall attach to a copy of information provided under Section
76	76	112.003 the following prominently displayed statement in boldfaced
77	77	type, in capital letters, or underlined:
78	78	"TO ANY PERSON AUTHORIZED TO SERVE PROCESS:
79	79	"THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION SUBJECT TO A COURT ORDER
80	80	OF NONDISCLOSURE AND IS PROVIDED TO YOU SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
81	81	LOCATING AND EFFECTING SERVICE OF PROCESS ON THE NAMED PERSON. YOU
82	82	MAY NOT DISPLAY THIS DOCUMENT OR DISCLOSE ANY OF THE INFORMATION
83	83	CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT TO ANY PERSON. YOU MAY NOT COPY OR
84	84	OTHERWISE DUPLICATE THIS DOCUMENT OR THE INFORMATION IT CONTAINS.
85	85	ON THE RETURN OF SERVICE, YOU SHALL STATE THE PLACE OF SERVICE ONLY
86	86	AS "THE RESIDENCE ADDRESS IN CLERK'S DATA SHEET" OR A SIMILAR
87	87	STATEMENT. YOU MUST RETURN THIS DOCUMENT TO THE CLERK WITH THE
88	88	RETURN OF SERVICE. VIOLATION OF ANY OF THESE DIRECTIVES MAY BE
89	89	PUNISHED AS CONTEMPT OF COURT."
90	90	SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section
91	91	105.006(c), Family Code, applies to a suit affecting the
92	92	parent-child relationship pending in a trial court on or filed on or
93	93	after the effective date of this Act.
94	94	SECTION 4. Chapter 112, Family Code, as added by this Act,
95	95	applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship that
96	96	is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit filed
97	97	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
98	98	effect on the date the suit is filed, and the former law is
99	99	continued in effect for that purpose.
100	100	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.