By Zaffirini S.B. No. 390
75R3337 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the involuntary termination of the parent-child
1-3 relationship.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
1-8 RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-9 relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
1-10 (1) that 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 a child;
3-3 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
3-4 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
3-5 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
3-6 substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;
3-7 [or]
3-8 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
3-9 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
3-10 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
3-11 agency for not less than six months [one year], and:
3-12 (i) the department or authorized agency
3-13 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
3-14 (ii) the parent has not regularly visited
3-15 or maintained significant contact with the child; and
3-16 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
3-17 inability to provide the child with a safe environment;
3-18 (O) been adjudicated to be criminally
3-19 responsible for:
3-20 (i) causing physical injury to the child
3-21 that results in substantial harm to the child;
3-22 (ii) engaging in sexual conduct harmful to
3-23 the child's mental, emotional, or physical welfare;
3-24 (iii) causing mental or emotional injury
3-25 to the child that results in an observable and material impairment
3-26 in the child's growth, development, or psychological functioning;
3-27 or
4-1 (iv) leaving the child in a situation in
4-2 which the child was exposed to substantial physical or mental harm;
4-3 or
4-4 (P) failed to comply with the provisions of a
4-5 court order that specifically established the actions necessary for
4-6 the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
4-7 permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department
4-8 of Protective and Regulatory Services for not less than nine months
4-9 as a result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter
4-10 262 for the abuse or neglect of the child; and
4-11 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
4-12 child.
4-13 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
4-14 applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
4-15 filed on or after that date. A suit affecting the parent-child
4-16 relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is
4-17 governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and
4-18 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-19 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.