1-1 By: Naishtat (Senate Sponsor - Moncrief) H.B. No. 1411 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 16, 1999; 1-3 April 19, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Jurisprudence; May 5, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable 1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; 1-6 May 5, 1999, sent to printer.) 1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1411 By: Wentworth 1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-9 AN ACT 1-10 relating to the conservatorship of and access to certain children 1-11 by parents having a history of family violence. 1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-13 SECTION 1. Chapter 101, Family Code, is amended by adding 1-14 Section 101.0125 to read as follows: 1-15 Sec. 101.0125. FAMILY VIOLENCE. "Family violence" has the 1-16 meaning assigned by Section 71.004. 1-17 SECTION 2. Section 153.001(a), Family Code, is amended to 1-18 read as follows: 1-19 (a) The public policy of this state is to: 1-20 (1) assure that children will have frequent and 1-21 continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act 1-22 in the best interest of the child; 1-23 (2) provide a safe, stable, and nonviolent environment 1-24 for the child; and 1-25 (3) encourage parents to share in the rights and 1-26 duties of raising their child after the parents have separated or 1-27 dissolved their marriage. 1-28 SECTION 3. Section 153.004, Family Code, is amended by 1-29 adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: 1-30 (d) The court may not allow a parent to have access to a 1-31 child for whom it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that 1-32 there is a history or pattern of committing family violence during 1-33 the two years preceding the date of the filing of the suit or 1-34 during the pendency of the suit, unless the court: 1-35 (1) finds that awarding the parent access to the child 1-36 would not endanger the child's physical health or emotional welfare 1-37 and would be in the best interest of the child; and 1-38 (2) renders a possession order that is designed to 1-39 protect the safety and well-being of the child and any other person 1-40 who has been a victim of family violence committed by the parent 1-41 and that may include a requirement that: 1-42 (A) the periods of access be continuously 1-43 supervised by an entity or person chosen by the court; 1-44 (B) the exchange of possession of the child 1-45 occur in a protective setting; 1-46 (C) the parent abstain from the consumption of 1-47 alcohol or a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, 1-48 Health and Safety Code, within 12 hours prior to or during the 1-49 period of access to the child; or 1-50 (D) the parent attend and complete a battering 1-51 intervention and prevention program as provided by Article 42.141, 1-52 Code of Criminal Procedure, or, if such a program is not available, 1-53 complete a course of treatment under Section 153.010. 1-54 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and 1-55 applies to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed on 1-56 or after that date. A suit filed before the effective date of this 1-57 Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was 1-58 filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. 1-59 (b) The enactment of this Act does not by itself constitute 1-60 a material and substantial change of circumstances sufficient to 1-61 warrant modification of a court order or portion of a decree that 1-62 provides for the possession of or access to a child rendered before 1-63 the effective date of this Act. 1-64 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the 2-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 2-5 * * * * *