By Staples                                            H.B. No. 2215

         75R7347 MCK-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to court-ordered family counseling for conflicts regarding

 1-3     issues of conservatorship or possession of or access to a child.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 153.010, Family Code, is amended to read

 1-6     as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 153.010.  ORDER FOR FAMILY COUNSELING.  If the court

 1-8     finds at the time of a hearing that the parties have a history of

 1-9     conflict in resolving an issue of conservatorship or possession of

1-10     or access to the child, the court may order a party to:

1-11                 (1)  participate in counseling with a person appointed

1-12     by the court who is a licensed marriage and family therapist under

1-13     the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act (Article 4512c-1,

1-14     Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and who is trained in issues of

1-15     domestic violence; and

1-16                 (2)  pay the cost of counseling.

1-17           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-18           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

1-23                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1

1-24           Amend H.B. 2215 as follows:

 2-1           (1)  On page 1, line 11 through line 15, strike "person

 2-2     appointed by the court who is a licensed marriage and family

 2-3     therapist under the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Act

 2-4     (Article 4512c-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and who is trained

 2-5     in issues of domestic violence" and substitute the following after

 2-6     "a": "mental health professional who:

 2-7                       (A)  has a background in family therapy;

 2-8                       (B)  has a mental health license which requires

 2-9     as a minimum a Master's degree; and

2-10                       (C)  has training in domestic violence"

2-11                                                               McClendon