By: Hughes, et al. S.B. No. 1269
(Vasut)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to admissibility and disclosure of certain evidence in a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the
Department of Family and Protective Services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 104, Family Code, is amended by
designating Sections 104.001 through 104.008 as Subchapter A and
adding a subchapter heading to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 2. Chapter 104, Family Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter B to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. SUITS FILED BY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE
SERVICES
Sec. 104.101. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "department"
means the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Sec. 104.102. STATEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL UNDERGOING SUBSTANCE
USE DISORDER TREATMENT OR EVALUATION. In a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship filed by the department concerning a
child who is alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, a
statement made by an individual undergoing voluntary or
court-ordered treatment for a substance use disorder, or undergoing
an evaluation for admission to treatment for a substance use
disorder, is not admissible for use against the individual if the
statement was made to any person involved in the individual's
treatment or evaluation.
Sec. 104.103. STATEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL UNDERGOING MENTAL
HEALTH TREATMENT OR EVALUATION. In a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship filed by the department concerning a
child who is alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, a
statement made by an individual undergoing voluntary or
court-ordered therapeutic treatment for a mental illness, or
undergoing a psychological or psychiatric evaluation for that
treatment, is not admissible for use against the individual if the
statement was made to any person involved in the individual's
treatment or evaluation.
Sec. 104.104. STATEMENT BY PERSON REQUIRED TO REPORT ABUSE
OR NEGLECT OF CHILD. In a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship filed by the department concerning a child who is
alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, an
out-of-court statement regarding the alleged abuse or neglect made
to the department under Subchapter B, Chapter 261, is not
admissible into evidence at any evidentiary proceeding unless the
statement can be independently corroborated by other evidence.
SECTION 3. Section 262.014, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 262.014. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE. The [On the
request of the attorney for a parent who is a party in a suit
affecting the parent-child relationship filed under this chapter,
or the attorney ad litem for the parent's child, the] Department of
Family and Protective Services shall, not later than the seventh
day before the date of the full adversary hearing, provide to each
party:
(1) the name of any person, excluding a department
employee, whom the department will call as a witness to any of the
allegations contained in the petition filed by the department and
any witness statement provided by the person;
(2) a copy of any offense report relating to the
allegations contained in the petition filed by the department that
will be used in court to refresh a witness's memory; [and]
(3) a copy of any photograph, video, or recording that
will be presented as evidence;
(4) a copy of any report submitted to the department by
a medical provider with the forensic assessment center network
regarding a child who is the subject of the suit;
(5) all exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating
evidence in the possession, custody, or control of the department
or its agent that:
(A) is relevant to a parent who is a party in the
suit; and
(B) tends to negate any claim of abuse or neglect
of a child by the parent; and
(6) a true and correct copy of the department's
investigative file, including the intake report with only the name
of the reporting party redacted.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the
Department of Family and Protective Services on or after the
effective date of this Act. A suit affecting the parent-child
relationship filed by the department before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.