1-1           By:  Harris                                      S.B. No. 435

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 4, 1997; February 6, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;

 1-4     March 4, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 5,

 1-5     Nays 0; March 4, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to standard orders for the possession of a child.

 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-10           SECTION 1.  Sections 153.316 and 153.317, Family Code, are

1-11     amended to read as follows:

1-12           Sec. 153.316.  General Terms and Conditions.  The court shall

1-13     order the following general terms and conditions of possession of a

1-14     child to apply without regard to the distance between the residence

1-15     of a parent and the child:

1-16                 (1)  the managing conservator shall surrender the child

1-17     to the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of

1-18     the possessory conservator's possession at the residence of the

1-19     managing conservator;

1-20                 (2)  if the possessory conservator elects to begin a

1-21     period of possession at the time the child's school is regularly

1-22     dismissed, the managing conservator shall surrender the child to

1-23     the possessory conservator at the beginning of each period of

1-24     possession at the school in which the child is enrolled;

1-25                 (3)  the possessory conservator shall be ordered to do

1-26     one of the following:

1-27                       (A)  the possessory conservator shall surrender

1-28     the child to the managing conservator at the end of each period of

1-29     possession at the residence of the possessory conservator; or

1-30                       (B)  the possessory conservator shall return the

1-31     child to the residence of the managing conservator at the end of

1-32     each period of possession, except that the order shall provide that

1-33     the possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the

1-34     managing conservator at the end of each period of possession at the

1-35     residence of the possessory conservator if:

1-36                             (i)  at the time the original order or a

1-37     modification of an order establishing terms and conditions of

1-38     possession or access the possessory conservator and the managing

1-39     conservator lived in the same county, the possessory conservator's

1-40     county of residence remains the same after the rendition of the

1-41     order [establishing terms and conditions of possession and access],

1-42     and the managing conservator's county of residence changes,

1-43     effective on the date of the change of residence by the managing

1-44     conservator; or

1-45                             (ii)  the possessory conservator and

1-46     managing conservator lived in the same residence at any time during

1-47     a six-month period preceding the date on which a suit for

1-48     dissolution of the marriage was filed and the possessory

1-49     conservator's county of residence remains the same and the managing

1-50     conservator's county of residence changes after they no longer live

1-51     in the same residence, effective on the date the order is rendered;

1-52                 (4)  if the possessory conservator elects to end a

1-53     period of possession at the time the child's school resumes, the

1-54     possessory conservator shall surrender the child to the managing

1-55     conservator at the end of each period of possession at the school

1-56     in which the child is enrolled;

1-57                 (5)  each conservator shall return with the child the

1-58     personal effects that the child brought at the beginning of the

1-59     period of possession;

1-60                 (6)  either parent may designate a competent adult to

1-61     pick up and return the child, as applicable; a parent or a

1-62     designated competent adult shall be present when the child is

1-63     picked up or returned;

1-64                 (7)  a parent shall give notice to the person in

 2-1     possession of the child on each occasion that the parent will be

 2-2     unable to exercise that parent's right of possession for a

 2-3     specified period;

 2-4                 (8)  written notice shall be deemed to have been timely

 2-5     made if received or postmarked before or at the time that notice is

 2-6     due; and

 2-7                 (9)  if a conservator's time of possession of a child

 2-8     ends at the time school resumes and for any reason the child is not

 2-9     or will not be returned to school, the conservator in possession of

2-10     the child shall immediately notify the school and the other

2-11     conservator that the child will not be or has not been returned to

2-12     school.

2-13           Sec. 153.317.  Alternative Possession Times.  If a child is

2-14     enrolled in school and the possessory conservator elects before or

2-15     at the time of the rendition of the original or modification order,

2-16     the standard order must [may] expressly provide that the possessory

2-17     conservator's period of possession shall begin or end, or both, at

2-18     a different time expressly set in the standard order under and

2-19     within the range of alternative times provided by one or both of

2-20     the following subdivisions:

2-21                 (1)  [except for the Christmas school vacation and

2-22     Wednesday evening possession,] instead of a period of possession by

2-23     a possessory conservator beginning at 6 p.m. on the day school

2-24     recesses, the period of possession may be set in the standard

2-25     possession order to begin at the time the child's school is

2-26     regularly dismissed or at any time between the time the child's

2-27     school is regularly dismissed and 6 p.m.; and

2-28                 (2)  except for Wednesday evening possession, instead

2-29     of a period of possession by a possessory conservator ending at 6

2-30     p.m. on the day before school resumes, the period of possession may

2-31     be set in the standard order to end at the time school resumes.

2-32           SECTION 2.  The changes made by this Act to orders for the

2-33     possession of a child apply only to an order rendered on or after

2-34     the effective date of this Act.  This Act does not affect the terms

2-35     or conditions of an order made before that date.

2-36           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-37           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-38     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-39     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-40     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-41     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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