89R3682 AMF-F
By: Dutton H.B. No. 2288
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an affirmative defense by the respondent to an
application for a protective order.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 82, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.023 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.023. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE. (a) A respondent to an
application for a protective order may plead as an affirmative
defense that family violence is not likely to occur in the future.
(b) A respondent has the burden of proving an affirmative
defense under Subsection (a) by a preponderance of the evidence.
SECTION 2. Section 85.001(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) If the court finds that family violence has occurred,
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, unless the person establishes an affirmative
defense as provided by Section 82.023; 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.
SECTION 3. Section 82.023, Family Code, as added by this
Act, applies to an application for a protective order that is filed
on or after the effective date of this Act. An application for a
protective order filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the application is filed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.