By: Meza, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Whitmire) H.B. No. 1432
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2023;
May 1, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to required findings for the issuance of a protective
order.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.001, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 81.001. ENTITLEMENT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. A court
shall render a protective order as provided by Section 85.001(b) if
the court finds that family violence has occurred [and is likely to
occur in the future].
SECTION 2. Section 81.0015, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 81.0015. PRESUMPTION. For purposes of this subtitle,
there is a presumption that family violence has occurred [and is
likely to occur in the future] if:
(1) the respondent has been convicted of or placed on
deferred adjudication community supervision for any of the
following offenses against the child for whom the petition is
filed:
(A) an offense under Title 5, Penal Code, for
which the court has made an affirmative finding that the offense
involved family violence under Article 42.013, Code of Criminal
Procedure; or
(B) an offense under Title 6, Penal Code; and
(2) the respondent's parental rights with respect to
the child have been terminated[; and
[(3) the respondent is seeking or attempting to seek
contact with the child].
SECTION 3. Sections 85.001(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) At the close of a hearing on an application for a
protective order, the court shall find whether[:
[(1)] family violence has occurred[; and
[(2) family violence is likely to occur in the future].
(b) If the court finds that family violence has occurred
[and that family violence is likely to occur in the future], the
court:
(1) shall render a protective order as provided by
Section 85.022 applying only to a person found to have committed
family violence; and
(2) may render a protective order as provided by
Section 85.021 applying to both parties that is in the best interest
of the person protected by the order or member of the family or
household of the person protected by the order.
(c) A protective order that requires the first applicant to
do or refrain from doing an act under Section 85.022 shall include a
finding that the first applicant has committed family violence [and
is likely to commit family violence in the future].
SECTION 4. Section 85.002, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 85.002. EXCEPTION FOR VIOLATION OF EXPIRED PROTECTIVE
ORDER. If the court finds that a respondent violated a protective
order by committing an act prohibited by the order as provided by
Section 85.022, that the order was in effect at the time of the
violation, and that the order has expired after the date that the
violation occurred, the court, without the necessity of making the
finding [findings] described by Section 85.001(a), shall render a
protective order as provided by Section 85.022 applying only to the
respondent and may render a protective order as provided by Section
85.021.
SECTION 5. Section 85.025(a-1), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a-1) The court may render a protective order sufficient to
protect the applicant and members of the applicant's family or
household that is effective for a period that exceeds two years if
the court finds that the person who is the subject of the protective
order:
(1) committed an act constituting a felony offense
involving family violence against the applicant or a member of the
applicant's family or household, regardless of whether the person
has been charged with or convicted of the offense;
(2) caused serious bodily injury to the applicant or a
member of the applicant's family or household; or
(3) was the subject of two or more previous protective
orders rendered:
(A) to protect the person on whose behalf the
current protective order is sought; and
(B) after a finding by the court that the subject
of the protective order[:
[(i)] has committed family violence[; and
[(ii) is likely to commit family violence in
the future].
SECTION 6. Article 7B.052, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 7B.052. REQUIRED FINDINGS; ISSUANCE OF PROTECTIVE
ORDER. The court shall issue a protective order in the manner
provided by Title 4, Family Code, if, in lieu of the finding that
family violence occurred [and is likely to occur in the future] as
required by Section 85.001, Family Code, the court finds that:
(1) probable cause exists to believe that an offense
under Section 42.072, Penal Code, was committed; and
(2) the nature of the scheme or course of conduct
engaged in by the defendant in committing the offense indicates the
defendant is likely in the future to engage in conduct prohibited by
Section 42.072(a)(1), (2), or (3), Penal Code.
SECTION 7. Article 7B.102, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 7B.102. REQUIRED FINDINGS; ISSUANCE OF PROTECTIVE
ORDER. The court shall issue a protective order in the manner
provided by Title 4, Family Code, if, in lieu of the finding that
family violence occurred [and is likely to occur in the future] as
required by Section 85.001, Family Code, the court finds that:
(1) probable cause exists to believe that an offense
under Title 5, Penal Code, or Section 28.02, 28.03, or 28.08, Penal
Code, was committed;
(2) the defendant committed the offense because of
bias or prejudice; and
(3) the nature of the scheme or course of conduct
engaged in by the defendant in committing the offense indicates the
defendant is likely in the future to:
(A) engage in conduct prohibited by Title 5,
Penal Code, or Section 28.02, 28.03, or 28.08, Penal Code; and
(B) engage in that conduct described by Paragraph
(A) because of bias or prejudice.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a protective order rendered on or after the effective date of this
Act. A protective 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 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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