76R11334 E                           
         By Naishtat                                            H.B. No. 819
         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 819:
         By Reyna of Bexar                                  C.S.H.B. No. 819
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to an objection to the mediation of certain proceedings on
 1-3     the basis of family violence.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 6.602, Family Code, is amended by adding
 1-6     Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 1-7           (d)  A party may file with the court at any time written
 1-8     objection to the referral of a suit to mediation under this section
 1-9     on the basis that the party has been a victim of family violence
1-10     committed by the other party to the suit within the two years
1-11     preceding the date of filing the suit or during the pendency of the
1-12     suit.  On filing the objection, the suit may not be referred to
1-13     mediation unless, on the request of a party or on the court's own
1-14     motion, a hearing is held and the court finds that there is not
1-15     credible evidence that family violence occurred.
1-16           SECTION 2.  Chapter 101, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-17     Section 101.0125 to read as follows:
1-18           Sec. 101.0125.  FAMILY VIOLENCE.  "Family violence" has the
1-19     meaning assigned by Section 71.004.
1-20           SECTION 3.  Section 153.0071, Family Code, is amended by
1-21     adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:
1-22           (f)  A party may file with the court at any time written
1-23     objection to the referral of a suit to mediation under Subsection
1-24     (c) on the basis that the party has been a victim of family
 2-1     violence committed by another party to the suit within the two
 2-2     years preceding the date of filing the suit or during the pendency
 2-3     of the suit.  On filing the objection, the suit may not be referred
 2-4     to mediation unless, on the request of a party to the suit or on
 2-5     the court's own motion, a hearing is held and the court finds that
 2-6     there is not credible evidence that family violence occurred.
 2-7           (g)  Subsection (f) does not apply to a suit commenced under
 2-8     Chapter 262.
 2-9           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-10     applies to a suit for dissolution of a marriage or a suit affecting
2-11     the parent-child relationship filed on or after that date.  A suit
2-12     filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
2-13     in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
2-14     continued in effect for that purpose.
2-15           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-16     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-17     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-18     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-19     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.