1-1 By: Gutierrez (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 3093
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 1999;
1-3 May 3, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 13, 1999, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to general standing to file a suit affecting the
1-9 parent-child relationship.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 102.003, Family Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 Sec. 102.003. GENERAL STANDING TO FILE SUIT. An original
1-14 suit may be filed at any time by:
1-15 (1) a parent of the child;
1-16 (2) the child through a representative authorized by
1-17 the court;
1-18 (3) a custodian or person having the right of
1-19 visitation with or access to the child appointed by an order of a
1-20 court of another state or country;
1-21 (4) a guardian of the person or of the estate of the
1-22 child;
1-23 (5) a governmental entity;
1-24 (6) an authorized agency;
1-25 (7) a licensed child placing agency;
1-26 (8) a man alleging himself to be the biological father
1-27 of a child filing in accordance with Chapter 160, subject to the
1-28 limitations of Section 160.101, but not otherwise;
1-29 (9) a person who has had actual care, control, and
1-30 possession of the child for not less than six months preceding the
1-31 filing of the petition;
1-32 (10) a person designated as the managing conservator
1-33 in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment under Chapter
1-34 161 or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing under
1-35 Chapter 162;
1-36 (11) a person with whom the child and the child's
1-37 guardian, managing conservator, or parent have resided for not less
1-38 than six months preceding the filing of the petition if the child's
1-39 guardian, managing conservator, or parent is deceased at the time
1-40 of the filing of the petition; [or]
1-41 (12) a person who is the foster parent of a child
1-42 placed by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in
1-43 the person's home for a period of not less than 18 months preceding
1-44 the date of the filing of the petition; or
1-45 (13) a person who is a relative of the child within
1-46 the third degree by consanguinity, as determined by Chapter 573,
1-47 Government Code, if the child's parents are deceased at the time of
1-48 the filing of the petition.
1-49 SECTION 2. Section 102.004(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-50 read as follows:
1-51 (a) In addition to the general standing to file suit
1-52 provided by Section 102.003(13), a grandparent may file an [An]
1-53 original suit requesting managing conservatorship [may be filed by
1-54 a grandparent] if there is satisfactory proof to the court that:
1-55 (1) the order requested is necessary because the
1-56 child's present environment presents a serious question concerning
1-57 the child's physical health or welfare; or
1-58 (2) both parents, the surviving parent, or the
1-59 managing conservator or custodian either filed the petition or
1-60 consented to the suit.
1-61 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
1-62 suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is pending on or
1-63 after the effective date of this Act.
1-64 SECTION 4. 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 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-6 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-7 * * * * *