By Harris S.B. No. 680
75R6694 MCK-F
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. Chapter 101, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-5 Section 101.0285 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 101.0285. SERIOUS INJURY OF A CHILD. "Serious injury
1-7 of a child" includes:
1-8 (1) physical injury that results in substantial harm
1-9 to a child;
1-10 (2) mental or emotional injury to a child that results
1-11 in an observable and material impairment in the child's growth,
1-12 development, or psychological functioning;
1-13 (3) sexual conduct that results in mental, emotional,
1-14 or physical injury to a child; and
1-15 (4) leaving a child in a situation in which the child
1-16 is exposed to substantial physical or mental injury.
1-17 SECTION 2. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
1-18 as follows:
1-19 Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
1-20 RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-21 relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
1-22 (1) that the parent has:
1-23 (A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-24 possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
2-1 return;
2-2 (B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
2-3 possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
2-4 to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
2-5 and remained away for a period of at least three months;
2-6 (C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
2-7 possession of another without providing adequate support of the
2-8 child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
2-9 (D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
2-10 child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
2-11 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
2-12 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
2-13 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
2-14 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
2-15 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
2-16 with his ability during a period of one year ending within six
2-17 months of the date of the filing of the petition;
2-18 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
2-19 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
2-20 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
2-21 diligence;
2-22 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
2-23 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
2-24 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
2-25 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
2-26 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
2-27 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
3-1 child since the birth;
3-2 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
3-3 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
3-4 (J) been the major cause of:
3-5 (i) the failure of the child to be
3-6 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
3-7 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
3-8 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
3-9 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
3-10 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
3-11 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
3-12 rights as provided by this chapter;
3-13 (L) been adjudicated to be criminally
3-14 responsible for the death or serious injury of a child;
3-15 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
3-16 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
3-17 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
3-18 substantially equivalent provisions of the law in another state;
3-19 [or]
3-20 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
3-21 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
3-22 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
3-23 agency for not less than one year, and:
3-24 (i) the department or authorized agency
3-25 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
3-26 (ii) the parent has not visited or
3-27 maintained contact with the child; and
4-1 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
4-2 inability to provide the child with a safe environment; or
4-3 (O) knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that
4-4 results in:
4-5 (i) a sentence of imprisonment for not
4-6 less than three years; and
4-7 (ii) the parent's separation from the
4-8 child; and
4-9 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
4-10 child.
4-11 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
4-12 applies only to a suit to terminate the parent-child relationship
4-13 filed on or after that date. A suit to terminate the parent-child
4-14 relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is
4-15 governed by the law in effect at the time the suit was commenced,
4-16 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.