By Dunnam                                             H.B. No. 2786
         76R8961 JMM-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to an appeal from the issuance of a protective order.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 85.026, Family Code, is amended by adding
 1-5     Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 1-6           (d)  Each protective order issued under this subtitle, except
 1-7     for a temporary ex parte order, must contain the following
 1-8     prominently  displayed statement in bold-faced type, capital
 1-9     letters, or underlined:
1-10           "AN APPEAL OF THIS ORDER MUST BE FILED IN THE COURT OF
1-11     APPEALS FOR THE COUNTY IN WHICH THIS ORDER IS RENDERED.  AN APPEAL
1-12     OF THIS ORDER MUST BE FILED NOT LATER THAN THE 30TH DAY AFTER THE
1-13     DATE ON WHICH THE ORDER IS SIGNED."
1-14           SECTION 2.  Subtitle B, Title 4, Family Code, is amended by
1-15     adding Chapter 89 to read as follows:
1-16                             CHAPTER 89.  APPEAL
1-17           Sec. 89.001.  RIGHT TO APPEAL.  (a)  An appeal from an order
1-18     rendered under this subtitle, other than a temporary ex parte
1-19     order, shall be filed in a court of appeals for the county in which
1-20     the order was rendered.
1-21           (b)  Notice of appeal must be filed not later than the 30th
1-22     day after the date the protective order was signed.
1-23           Sec. 89.002.  TRANSCRIPTS.  On receipt of notice of the
1-24     filing of an appeal, the clerk of the court in which the protective
 2-1     order was rendered shall immediately send a certified copy of the
 2-2     transcripts of the proceedings in the case to the court of appeals.
 2-3           Sec. 89.003.  PREFERENTIAL SETTING.  The court of appeals and
 2-4     the supreme court shall give an appeal under this chapter
 2-5     preference over all other cases before the court and shall advance
 2-6     the appeal on the court's docket.  The court of appeals or supreme
 2-7     court may suspend any rule relating to the time for filing a brief
 2-8     or docketing a case.
 2-9           Sec. 89.004.  ORDER PENDING APPEAL.  The appeal of an order
2-10     rendered under this subtitle does not affect the validity of the
2-11     order or affect the jurisdiction of the court that rendered the
2-12     order to expand, vacate, or otherwise modify the order.
2-13           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-14     applies only to a protective order rendered on or after that date.
2-15     A protective  order rendered before the effective date of this Act
2-16     is governed by the law in effect on the date the order was
2-17     rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that
2-18     purpose.
2-19           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.