BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 188 By: Nelson Jurisprudence 3-7-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Children are not authorized to waive service of summons and are required to be served personally. Current law also provides that a juvenile making an appearance in the action is not sufficient to obviate the need for service. This law authorizes fees to be charged to a county for service of summons on a juvenile and the juvenile's parents which may cause delays in service and the case. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 188 sets forth provisions for a party, including the child, to waive service of summons in a juvenile court proceeding. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 53.06(e), Family Code, as follows: (e) Authorizes a party, including the child, to waive service of summons by written stipulation or voluntary appearance at the hearing. Requires the stipulation to be signed by the child and a parent, guardian, or custodian of the child, notwithstanding Section 51.09(a). Provides that the personal appearance of a person, including the child, at a hearing before the court or a referee constitutes both a waiver of service and submission to the jurisdiction of the court. SECTION 2. Amends Sections 53.07(c) and (d), Family Code, as follows: (c) Provides that jurisdiction attaches to the child and the case when the summons is served on the child, the service of the summons is waived by written stipulation, or the child is taken into custody. (d) Authorizes a court to allow payment from the general funds of the county for necessary travel expenses incurred by persons summoned or otherwise required to appear at the hearing. Prohibits a fee from being charged to the prosecuting attorney for the issuance or service of a process, summons, subpoena, or other paper under this title. Requires the issuance or service to be treated as in a criminal proceeding for purposes of assessing costs or fees for issuance or service of process or a summons. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 4. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 5. Emergency clause.