87R71 JSC-F
By: Neave, Cook, Moody, Morales Shaw H.B. No. 39
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to protective orders; making conforming changes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 85.005(a) and (b), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) To facilitate settlement, the parties to a proceeding
may agree in writing to [the terms of] a protective order as
provided by Sections [Section] 85.021 and 85.022. An agreement
under this subsection is subject to the approval of the court. The
court may not approve an agreement that requires the applicant for
the protective order to do or refrain from doing an act under
Section 85.022.
(b) An [To facilitate settlement, a respondent may agree in
writing to the terms of a protective order as provided by Section
85.022, subject to the approval of the court. The court may not
approve an agreement that requires the applicant to do or refrain
from doing an act under Section 85.022. The] agreed protective
order is enforceable civilly or criminally, regardless of whether
the court makes the findings required by Section 85.001.
SECTION 2. Section 85.006(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding Rule 107, Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure, a [A] court may render a protective order that is binding
on a respondent who does not attend a hearing if:
(1) the respondent received service of the application
and notice of the hearing; and
(2) proof of service was filed with the court before
the hearing.
SECTION 3. Article 7B.001(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The following persons may file an application for a
protective order under this subchapter without regard to the
relationship between the applicant and the alleged offender:
(1) a person who is the victim of an offense under
Section 20A.02, 20A.03, 21.02, 21.11, 22.011, 22.021, [or] 42.072,
or 43.05, Penal Code;
(2) any adult, including a parent or guardian, who is
acting on behalf of a victim described by Subdivision (1), if the
victim is younger than 18 years of age or an adult ward [a person who
is the victim of an offense under Section 20A.02, 20A.03, or 43.05,
Penal Code]; or
(3) [a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a person
younger than 17 years of age who is the victim of an offense listed
in Subdivision (1);
[(4) a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a person
younger than 18 years of age who is the victim of an offense listed
in Subdivision (2); or
[(5)] a prosecuting attorney acting on behalf of a
person described by Subdivision (1) or [,] (2)[, (3), or (4)].
SECTION 4. Article 7B.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, by adding Subsections (a-1) and
(a-2) and is further amended to read as follows:
(a-1) Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), if an
application has not yet been filed in the case under Subsection (a),
the attorney representing the state shall promptly file an
application for a protective order with respect to each victim of an
offense listed in Subdivision (1) of that subsection following the
offender's conviction of or placement on deferred adjudication
community supervision for the offense.
(a-2) The attorney representing the state may not file an
application under Subsection (a-1) with respect to a victim if the
victim requests that the attorney representing the state not file
the application. This subsection does not apply to a victim who is
younger than 18 years of age or who is an adult ward.
SECTION 5. Article 7B.003, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, by adding Subsection (c) and is
further amended to read as follows:
(c) An offender's conviction of or placement on deferred
adjudication community supervision for an offense listed in Article
7B.001(a)(1) constitutes reasonable grounds under Subsection (a).
SECTION 6. Article 7B.007, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to conform to Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the 86th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, by adding Subsection (a-1) and
is further amended to read as follows:
(a-1) The court shall issue a protective order effective for
the duration of the lives of the offender and victim if the offender
is:
(1) convicted of or placed on deferred adjudication
community supervision for an offense listed in Article
7B.001(a)(1); and
(2) required under Chapter 62 to register for life as a
sex offender.
SECTION 7. Article 7B.007, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(b) The following persons may file at any time an
application with the court to rescind the protective order:
(1) a victim of an offense listed in Article
7B.001(a)(1) who is 18 [17] years of age or older;
(2) subject to Subsection (b-1), [or] a parent or
guardian acting on behalf of a victim of an offense listed in
Article 7B.001(a)(1) who is younger than 18 [17] years of age or an
adult ward; or
(3) a person not otherwise described by Subdivision
(1) or (2) who filed the application for the protective order.
(b-1) A [(2) a victim of an offense listed in Article
7B.001(a)(2) or a] parent or guardian may not file an application to
rescind the protective order under Subsection (b)(2) if the parent
or guardian is the alleged offender subject to the protective order
[acting on behalf of a victim who is younger than 18 years of age].
SECTION 8. Article 56A.052(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) This subsection applies only to a victim of an offense
under Section 20A.02, 20A.03, 21.02, 21.11, 22.011, 22.021, 42.072,
or 43.05, Penal Code. A victim described by this subsection or a
parent or guardian of the victim, if the victim is younger than 18
years of age or an adult ward, is entitled to the following rights
within the criminal justice system:
(1) the right to be informed:
(A) that the victim or, if the victim is younger
than 18 years of age or an adult ward, the victim's parent or
guardian or another adult acting on the victim's behalf[, as
applicable,] may file an application for a protective order under
Article 7B.001;
(B) of the court in which the application for a
protective order may be filed; [and]
(C) that, on request of the victim or, if the
victim is younger than 18 years of age or an adult ward, on request
of the victim's parent or guardian or another adult acting on the
victim's behalf, [as applicable, and subject to the Texas
Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct,] the attorney
representing the state may, subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules
of Professional Conduct, file the application for a protective
order on behalf of the requestor [victim]; and
(D) that, subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules
of Professional Conduct, the attorney representing the state
generally is required to file the application for a protective
order with respect to the victim if the defendant is convicted of or
placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for the
offense;
(2) the right to:
(A) request that the attorney representing the
state, subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional
Conduct, file an application for a protective order described by
Subdivision (1); and
(B) be notified when the attorney representing
the state files an application for a protective order under Article
7B.001;
(3) if the victim or the victim's parent or guardian,
as applicable, is present when the defendant is convicted or placed
on deferred adjudication community supervision, the right to:
(A) be given by the court the information
described by Subdivision (1); and
(B) file an application for a protective order
under Article 7B.001 immediately following the defendant's
conviction or placement on deferred adjudication community
supervision if the court has jurisdiction over the application; and
(4) if the victim or the victim's parent or guardian,
as applicable, is not present when the defendant is convicted or
placed on deferred adjudication community supervision, the right to
be given by the attorney representing the state the information
described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 9. Section 25.07(g), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(g) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor,
except the offense is:
(1) subject to Subdivision (2), a state jail felony if
it is shown at the trial of the offense that the defendant violated
an order issued under Subchapter A, Chapter 7B [as a result of an
application filed under Article 7A.01(a-1)], Code of Criminal
Procedure, following the defendant's conviction of or placement on
deferred adjudication community supervision for an offense, if the
order was issued with respect to a victim of that offense; or
(2) a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the
trial of the offense that the defendant:
(A) has previously been convicted two or more
times of an offense under this section or two or more times of an
offense under Section 25.072, or has previously been convicted of
an offense under this section and an offense under Section 25.072;
or
(B) has violated the order or condition of bond
by committing an assault or the offense of stalking.
SECTION 10. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Section 1, Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the
86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, which amended Article
7A.01, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) Section 2, Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the
86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, which amended Article
7A.03, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(3) Section 3, Chapter 1066 (H.B. 1343), Acts of the
86th Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, which amended Article
7A.07, Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 11. Section 85.005, Family Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a protective order approved by the court on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 12. Section 85.006, Family Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a protective order for which the respondent
receives service on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 13. Subchapter A, Chapter 7B, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as amended by this Act, applies only to a protective
order for which an application is filed on or after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 14. Article 56A.052(d), Code of Criminal Procedure,
as amended by this Act, applies to a victim of criminally injurious
conduct for which a judgment of conviction is entered or a grant of
deferred adjudication community supervision is made on or after the
effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the criminally
injurious conduct occurred before, on, or after the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 15. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.