Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1253 amends Family Code provisions relating to protective orders for family violence. The act exempts an attorney representing a client from payment of certain fees in connection with filing, serving, or entering a protective order or related service. The act requires the party found to have committed family violence to pay the fee for a protective order and gives the court more latitude in setting a date for payment of a fee or cost.

            Senate Bill 1253 clarifies that a prosecuting attorney or a Department of Protective and Regulatory Services attorney represents the interests of the state and not of any other party and requires the attorney to inform an applicant for a protective order that the attorney is not the applicant's attorney and does not provide legal representation to the applicant. The act makes the requirements relating to filing a protective order while a party to a divorce proceeding also applicable to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, requires an application for a protective order to include the applicant's mailing address if the applicant is not represented by an attorney, and requires a court to set a hearing not later than 20 days after an application is filed. If a person is found to have committed family violence, the court is authorized to require the person to complete a battering intervention and prevention program and to file an affidavit stating that the person has started and has completed the program or counseling.

            Senate Bill 1253 also clarifies the relationship between a protective order and a divorce proceeding or a suit affecting the parent-child relationship. The act provides that a court may not dismiss an application for a protective order when a divorce or suit affecting the parent-child relationship is filed at a later date, establishes proper venue for an application for a protective order, and outlines the procedures for transferring protective orders to the appropriate court.

            The act authorizes a person protected by an order to file a change of address or telephone number with the court and requires the court, unless the information is declared confidential, to notify the respondent of the change by registered or certified mail. The act removes the presumption that appointment of parents as joint managing conservators is in the best interest of the child if there is a history of family violence.

            Finally, Senate Bill 1253 creates an offense for knowingly obtaining a handgun while under a protective order and establishes requirements relating to a protective order rendered by a court in a jurisdiction outside of the state.