By Hilbert H.B. No. 3313
75R5195 SKB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the termination of the parent-child relationship.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
1-5 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 (1) that the parent has:
1-10 (A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-11 possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
1-12 return;
1-13 (B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-14 possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
1-15 to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
1-16 and remained away for a period of at least three months;
1-17 (C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-18 possession of another without providing adequate support of the
1-19 child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
1-20 (D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
1-21 child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
1-22 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-23 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
1-24 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
2-1 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
2-2 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
2-3 with his ability during a period of one year ending within six
2-4 months of the date of the filing of the petition;
2-5 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
2-6 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
2-7 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
2-8 diligence;
2-9 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
2-10 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
2-11 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
2-12 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
2-13 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
2-14 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
2-15 child since the birth;
2-16 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
2-17 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
2-18 (J) been the major cause of:
2-19 (i) the failure of the child to be
2-20 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
2-21 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
2-22 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
2-23 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
2-24 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
2-25 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
2-26 rights as provided by this chapter;
2-27 (L) been adjudicated to be criminally
3-1 responsible for the death or serious injury of a child;
3-2 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
3-3 terminated in this or another state with respect to another child
3-4 based on a finding that the parent's conduct was in violation of
3-5 Paragraph (D) or (E) or a similar provision from another state; or
3-6 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
3-7 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
3-8 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
3-9 agency for not less than six months [one year], and:
3-10 (i) the department or authorized agency
3-11 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
3-12 (ii) the parent has not visited or
3-13 maintained contact with the child; and
3-14 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
3-15 inability to provide the child with a safe environment; and
3-16 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
3-17 child.
3-18 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-24 passage, and it is so enacted.