Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

      Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

      By Williams                                     H.B. No. 2526

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the duties of an Attorney Ad Litem appointed to

 1-3     represent a child in a suit affecting the parent-child

 1-4     relationship.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Sections 107.014(a) and (b), Family Code, are

 1-7     amended to read as follows:

 1-8           (a)  An attorney ad litem appointed under this subchapter to

 1-9     represent a child [may] shall:

1-10                 (1)  investigate to the extent the attorney ad litem

1-11     considers appropriate to determine the facts of the case;

1-12                 (2)  obtain and review copies of all of the child's

1-13     relevant medical, psychological, and school records; and

1-14                 (3)  call, examine, and cross-examine witnesses.

1-15           (b)  An attorney ad litem appointed to represent a child

1-16     shall within a reasonable time after the appointment:

1-17                 (1)  interview the child if the child is four years of

1-18     age or older; [and]

1-19                 (2)  interview individuals with significant knowledge

1-20     of the child's history and condition; and

1-21                 (3)  interview all parties to the suit.

1-22           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-23     applies only to an appointment of an attorney ad litem made on or

1-24     after September 1, 1997.  An appointment made before September 1,

 2-1     1997, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before

 2-2     September 1, 1997, and that law is continued in effect for that

 2-3     purpose.

 2-4           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.