1-1 By: Nelson S.B. No. 50
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed November 9, 1998; January 26, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 February 17, 1999, referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-5 March 1, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7,
1-6 Nays 0; March 1, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the application for, issuance of, and contents of a
1-10 protective order.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 82.008, Family Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 (a) An [If an] application for a protective order [alleges
1-15 that the respondent has violated a previously rendered protective
1-16 order by committing an act prohibited by the order and] that is
1-17 filed after a previously rendered [the] protective order has
1-18 expired [after the date that the violation occurred, the
1-19 application for the new protective order] must include:
1-20 (1) a copy of the expired protective order attached to
1-21 the application or, if a copy of the expired protective order is
1-22 unavailable, a statement that the order is unavailable to the
1-23 applicant and that a copy of the order will be filed with the court
1-24 before the hearing on the application;
1-25 (2) a description of either:
1-26 (A) the violation of the expired protective
1-27 order, if the application alleges that the respondent violated the
1-28 expired protective order by committing an act prohibited by that
1-29 order before the order expired; or
1-30 (B) the threatened harm that reasonably places
1-31 the applicant in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury,
1-32 assault, or sexual assault; and
1-33 (3) if a violation of the expired order is alleged, a
1-34 statement that the violation of the expired order has not been
1-35 grounds for any other order protecting the applicant that has been
1-36 issued or requested under this subtitle.
1-37 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 82, Family Code, is amended
1-38 by adding Section 82.0085 to read as follows:
1-39 Sec. 82.0085. APPLICATION FILED BEFORE EXPIRATION OF
1-40 PREVIOUSLY RENDERED PROTECTIVE ORDER. (a) If an application for a
1-41 protective order alleges that an unexpired protective order
1-42 applicable to the respondent is due to expire not later than the
1-43 30th day after the date the application was filed, the application
1-44 for the subsequent protective order must include:
1-45 (1) a copy of the previously rendered protective order
1-46 attached to the application or, if a copy of the previously
1-47 rendered protective order is unavailable, a statement that the
1-48 order is unavailable to the applicant and that a copy of the order
1-49 will be filed with the court before the hearing on the application;
1-50 and
1-51 (2) a description of the threatened harm that
1-52 reasonably places the applicant in fear of imminent physical harm,
1-53 bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault.
1-54 (b) The procedural requirements for an original application
1-55 for a protective order apply to a protective order requested under
1-56 this section.
1-57 SECTION 3. Section 85.025, Family Code, is amended to read
1-58 as follows:
1-59 Sec. 85.025. DURATION OF PROTECTIVE ORDER. (a) Except as
1-60 provided by Subsection (b), an [An] order under this subtitle is
1-61 effective:
1-62 (1) for the period stated in the order, not to exceed
1-63 five years; or
1-64 (2) if a period is not stated in the order, until [one
2-1 year. An order that does not specify the period for which the
2-2 order is effective expires on] the fifth [first] anniversary of the
2-3 date the order was issued.
2-4 (b) If a person who is the subject of a protective order is
2-5 confined or imprisoned on the date the protective order would
2-6 expire under Subsection (a), the period for which the order is
2-7 effective is extended, and the order expires on the first
2-8 anniversary of the date the person is released from confinement or
2-9 imprisonment.
2-10 SECTION 4. Section 85.026, Family Code, is amended to read
2-11 as follows:
2-12 Sec. 85.026. WARNING ON PROTECTIVE ORDER. (a) Each
2-13 protective order issued under this subtitle, including a temporary
2-14 ex parte order, must contain the following printed statements
2-15 [statement] in bold-faced type or capital letters:
2-16 "A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS ORDER MAY BE PUNISHED
2-17 FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT BY A FINE OF AS MUCH AS $500 OR
2-18 BY CONFINEMENT IN JAIL FOR AS LONG AS SIX MONTHS, OR
2-19 BOTH.
2-20 "NO PERSON, INCLUDING A PERSON WHO IS PROTECTED
2-21 BY THIS ORDER, MAY GIVE PERMISSION TO ANYONE TO IGNORE
2-22 OR VIOLATE ANY PROVISION OF THIS ORDER. DURING THE
2-23 TIME IN WHICH THIS ORDER IS VALID, EVERY PROVISION OF
2-24 THIS ORDER IS IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT UNLESS A COURT
2-25 CHANGES THE ORDER.
2-26 "IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON WHO IS SUBJECT TO
2-27 A PROTECTIVE ORDER TO POSSESS A FIREARM OR AMMUNITION."
2-28 (b) Each protective order issued under this subtitle, except
2-29 for a temporary ex parte order, must contain the following printed
2-30 statement in bold-faced type or capital letters:
2-31 "A VIOLATION OF THIS ORDER BY COMMISSION OF AN
2-32 ACT PROHIBITED BY THE ORDER MAY BE PUNISHABLE BY A FINE
2-33 OF AS MUCH AS $4,000 OR BY CONFINEMENT IN JAIL FOR AS
2-34 LONG AS ONE YEAR, OR BOTH. AN ACT THAT RESULTS IN
2-35 FAMILY VIOLENCE MAY BE PROSECUTED AS A SEPARATE
2-36 MISDEMEANOR OR FELONY OFFENSE. IF THE ACT IS
2-37 PROSECUTED AS A SEPARATE FELONY OFFENSE, IT IS
2-38 PUNISHABLE BY CONFINEMENT IN PRISON FOR AT LEAST TWO
2-39 YEARS."
2-40 [(c) Each protective order issued under this subtitle,
2-41 including a temporary ex parte order, must contain the following
2-42 printed statement in bold-faced type or capital letters:]
2-43 ["NO PERSON, INCLUDING A PERSON WHO IS PROTECTED
2-44 BY THIS ORDER, MAY GIVE PERMISSION TO ANYONE TO IGNORE
2-45 OR VIOLATE ANY PROVISION OF THIS ORDER. DURING THE
2-46 TIME IN WHICH THIS ORDER IS VALID, EVERY PROVISION OF
2-47 THIS ORDER IS IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT UNLESS A COURT
2-48 CHANGES THE ORDER."]
2-49 SECTION 5. Section 87.002, Family Code, is amended to read
2-50 as follows:
2-51 Sec. 87.002. MODIFICATION MAY NOT EXTEND DURATION OF ORDER.
2-52 A protective order may not be modified to extend the period of the
2-53 order's validity beyond the fifth [first] anniversary of the date
2-54 the original order was rendered or beyond the date the order
2-55 expires under Section 85.025(b), whichever date occurs later.
2-56 SECTION 6. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-57 (b) The change in law made by this Act to Subchapter A,
2-58 Chapter 82, Family Code, by the amendment of Subsection (a),
2-59 Section 82.008, and the addition of Section 82.0085 applies to an
2-60 application for a protective order that is filed on or after the
2-61 effective date of this Act. An application for a protective order
2-62 that is filed before that date is covered by the law in effect on
2-63 the date the application was filed, and the former law is continued
2-64 in effect for that purpose.
2-65 (c) The change in law made by this Act to Sections 85.025,
2-66 85.026, and 87.002, Family Code, applies to a protective order
2-67 issued on or after the effective date of this Act. A protective
2-68 order issued before that date is governed by the law in effect on
2-69 the date the order was issued, and the former law is continued in
3-1 effect for that purpose.
3-2 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-7 * * * * *