S.B. No. 338
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the termination of the parent-child relationship.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, as added by H.B.
1-4 No. 655, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
1-7 RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-8 relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
1-9 that:
1-10 (1) the parent has:
1-11 (A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-12 possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
1-13 return;
1-14 (B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-15 possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
1-16 to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
1-17 and remained away for a period of at least three months;
1-18 (C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-19 possession of another without providing adequate support of the
1-20 child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
1-21 (D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
1-22 child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
1-23 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-24 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
2-1 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
2-2 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
2-3 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
2-4 with his ability during a period of one year ending within six
2-5 months of the date of the filing of the petition;
2-6 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
2-7 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
2-8 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
2-9 diligence;
2-10 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
2-11 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
2-12 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
2-13 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
2-14 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
2-15 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
2-16 child since the birth;
2-17 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
2-18 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
2-19 (J) been the major cause of:
2-20 (i) the failure of the child to be
2-21 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
2-22 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
2-23 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
2-24 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
2-25 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
2-26 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
2-27 rights as provided by this chapter;
3-1 (L) been adjudicated to be criminally
3-2 responsible for the death or serious injury of another of his or
3-3 her children; <or>
3-4 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
3-5 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
3-6 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E); or
3-7 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
3-8 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
3-9 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
3-10 agency for not less than one year and:
3-11 (i) the department or authorized agency
3-12 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
3-13 (ii) the parent has not visited or
3-14 maintained contact with the child; and
3-15 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
3-16 inability to provide the child with a safe environment; and
3-17 (2) termination is in the best interest of the child.
3-18 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 161.206, Family Code, as
3-19 added by H.B. No. 655, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular
3-20 Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
3-21 (a) If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
3-22 grounds for termination of the parent-child relationship, it shall
3-23 render an order terminating the parent-child relationship.
3-24 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-25 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-26 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-27 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.