By: West S.B. No. 1726
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to full faith and credit for valid foreign protective
1-2 orders; providing penalties.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 71, Family Code, as added by S.B. No.
1-5 797, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 71.008 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 71.008. PROTECTIVE ORDER FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION.
1-8 "Protective order from another jurisdiction" means a protective
1-9 order rendered by a military court or a court of another state,
1-10 tribe, or territory related to protecting an individual from
1-11 domestic or family violence and that meets the following
1-12 requirements:
1-13 (1) the order is rendered by a court that has
1-14 jurisdiction over the parties and the matter under the law of the
1-15 military, state, tribe, or territory; and
1-16 (2) the respondent is given notice and an opportunity
1-17 to be heard consistent with due process either:
1-18 (A) before the date the order was rendered; or
1-19 (B) in the case of an ex parte order, within the
1-20 time required by the jurisdiction rendering the order after the
1-21 date the order is rendered, but not later than a reasonable time.
1-22 SECTION 2. Chapter 86, Family Code, as added by S.B. No.
1-23 797, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
2-1 amended by adding Section 86.005 to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 86.005. PROTECTIVE ORDER FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION.
2-3 (a) To ensure that law enforcement officers responding to calls are
2-4 aware of the existence and terms of a protective order from another
2-5 jurisdiction, each law enforcement agency shall establish
2-6 procedures in the agency to provide adequate information or access
2-7 to information for law enforcement officers regarding the name of
2-8 each person protected by an order rendered in another jurisdiction
2-9 and of each person against whom the protective order is directed.
2-10 (b) Unless a law enforcement officer knows that the
2-11 protective order has expired, the officer shall rely on:
2-12 (1) a copy of a protective order from another
2-13 jurisdiction that has been provided to the officer by any source;
2-14 and
2-15 (2) the statement by a person protected by the order
2-16 that the order remains in effect.
2-17 (c) A law enforcement officer acting in good faith is not
2-18 subject to civil or criminal liability for any action arising in
2-19 connection with the enforcement of a protective order issued in
2-20 another jurisdiction that a court later determines was not entitled
2-21 to full faith and credit under Chapter 88.
2-22 SECTION 3. Subtitle B, Title 4, Family Code, as added by
2-23 S.B. No. 797, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
2-24 is amended by adding Chapter 88 to read as follows:
3-1 CHAPTER 88. PROTECTIVE ORDER FROM ANOTHER JURISDICTION
3-2 Sec. 88.001. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF PROTECTIVE ORDER FROM
3-3 ANOTHER JURISDICTION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a
3-4 protective order from another jurisdiction shall be accorded full
3-5 faith and credit by the courts of this state and enforced as if the
3-6 order was rendered by a court in this state.
3-7 (b) A protective order from another jurisdiction rendered
3-8 against both the applicant and respondent is not enforceable
3-9 against the applicant in this state unless:
3-10 (1) the respondent filed a cross or counter petition,
3-11 complaint, or other written pleading seeking a protective order
3-12 against the applicant; and
3-13 (2) the issuing court determined that each party was
3-14 entitled to a protective order.
3-15 Sec. 88.002. PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY. A protective order
3-16 from another jurisdiction is presumed to be valid if the order
3-17 appears authentic on the order's face.
3-18 Sec. 88.003. AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE. It is an affirmative
3-19 defense in any action seeking enforcement of a protective order
3-20 rendered in another jurisdiction that the respondent was not given
3-21 reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard consistent with
3-22 due process either:
3-23 (1) before the date the order was rendered; or
3-24 (2) in the case of an ex parte order, within the time
3-25 required by the jurisdiction rendering the order after the date the
4-1 order was rendered, but not later than a reasonable time.
4-2 Sec. 88.004. ENFORCEMENT OF AN ORDER. A protective order
4-3 from another jurisdiction may be enforced even if the order is not
4-4 entered into the state law enforcement information system
4-5 maintained by the Department of Public Safety.
4-6 SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (g), Section 25.07, Penal
4-7 Code, as amended by Chapters 658 and 1024, Acts of the 74th
4-8 Legislature, 1995, are amended to read as follows:
4-9 (a) A person commits an offense if, in violation of an order
4-10 issued under Section 3.581[, 71.11,] or Chapter 85 [71.12], Family
4-11 Code, [or] under Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure, or by
4-12 another jurisdiction as provided by Chapter 88, Family Code, the
4-13 person knowingly or intentionally:
4-14 (1) commits family violence or an act in furtherance
4-15 of an offense under Section 42.07(a)(7);
4-16 (2) communicates:
4-17 (A) directly with a protected individual or a
4-18 member of the family or household in a threatening or harassing
4-19 manner;
4-20 (B) a threat through any person to a protected
4-21 individual or a member of the family or household; and
4-22 (C) in any manner with the protected individual
4-23 or a member of the family or household except through the person's
4-24 attorney or a person appointed by the court, if the order prohibits
4-25 any communication with a protected individual or a member of the
5-1 family or household;
5-2 (3) goes to or near any of the following places as
5-3 specifically described in the order:
5-4 (A) the residence or place of employment or
5-5 business of a protected individual or a member of the family or
5-6 household; or
5-7 (B) any child care facility, residence, or
5-8 school where a child protected by the order normally resides or
5-9 attends.
5-10 (4) engages in conduct directed specifically toward a
5-11 person who is a member of the family or household, including
5-12 following the person, that is reasonably likely to harass, annoy,
5-13 alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass that person.
5-14 (g) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
5-15 unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant
5-16 has previously been convicted under this section two or more times
5-17 or has violated the protective order by committing an assault or
5-18 the offense of stalking, in which event the offense is a third
5-19 degree felony [state jail felony].
5-20 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Article 5.04, Code of Criminal
5-21 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
5-22 (a) The primary duties of a peace officer who investigates a
5-23 family violence allegation or who responds to a disturbance call
5-24 that may involve family violence are to protect any potential
5-25 victim of family violence, enforce the law of this state, enforce a
6-1 protective order from another jurisdiction as provided by Chapter
6-2 88, Family Code, and make lawful arrests of violators.
6-3 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-4 SECTION 7. (a) The change in law made by Section 4 of this
6-5 Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
6-6 date of this Act. For purposes of this section, an offense is
6-7 committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of
6-8 the offense occurs before that date.
6-9 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
6-10 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
6-11 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
6-12 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
6-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.