H.B. No. 2924
AN ACT
relating to procedures in certain suits affecting the parent-child
relationship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(d-1) The court may not order termination under Subsection
(b)(1)(M) unless the petition for the termination of the
parent-child relationship is filed not later than the first
anniversary of the date the department or an equivalent agency in
another state was granted managing conservatorship of a child in
the case that resulted in the termination of the parent-child
relationship with respect to that child based on a finding that the
parent's conduct violated Subsection (b)(1)(D) or (E) or
substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state.
SECTION 2. Section 262.2015(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The court may find under Subsection (a) that a parent
has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances if:
(1) the parent abandoned the child without
identification or a means for identifying the child;
(2) the child or another child of the parent is a
victim of serious bodily injury or sexual abuse inflicted by the
parent or by another person with the parent's consent;
(3) the parent has engaged in conduct against the
child or another child of the parent that would constitute an
offense under the following provisions of the Penal Code:
(A) Section 19.02 (murder);
(B) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
(C) Section 19.04 (manslaughter);
(D) Section 21.11 (indecency with a child);
(E) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
(F) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
(G) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual assault);
(H) Section 22.04 (injury to a child, elderly
individual, or disabled individual);
(I) Section 22.041 (abandoning or endangering
child);
(J) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual conduct);
(K) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by a
child);
(L) Section 43.26 (possession or promotion of
child pornography);
(M) Section 21.02 (continuous sexual abuse of
young child or children);
(N) Section 43.05(a)(2) (compelling
prostitution); or
(O) Section 20A.02(a)(7) or (8) (trafficking of
persons);
(4) the parent voluntarily left the child alone or in
the possession of another person not the parent of the child for at
least six months without expressing an intent to return and without
providing adequate support for the child;
(5) [the parent's parental rights with regard to
another child have been involuntarily terminated based on a finding
that the parent's conduct violated Section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E)
or a substantially equivalent provision of another state's law;
[(6)] the parent has been convicted for:
(A) the murder of another child of the parent and
the offense would have been an offense under 18 U.S.C. Section
1111(a) if the offense had occurred in the special maritime or
territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
(B) the voluntary manslaughter of another child
of the parent and the offense would have been an offense under 18
U.S.C. Section 1112(a) if the offense had occurred in the special
maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States;
(C) aiding or abetting, attempting, conspiring,
or soliciting an offense under Paragraph (A) or (B); or
(D) the felony assault of the child or another
child of the parent that resulted in serious bodily injury to the
child or another child of the parent; or
(6) [(7) the parent's parental rights with regard to
another child of the parent have been involuntarily terminated; or
[(8)] the parent is required under any state or
federal law to register with a sex offender registry.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a court order for the involuntary termination of the
parent-child relationship rendered on or after the effective date
of this Act. A court order rendered before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the order was
rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2924 was passed by the House on May 5,
2021, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 14, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2924 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 126, Nays 19,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2924 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor