By:  Moncrief, Nelson, Shapleigh                       S.B. No. 207
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to protecting against family violence in family law cases
 1-2     and in certain other cases involving alternative dispute resolution
 1-3     procedures.
 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 at any time prior to the final mediation
 1-8     order file a written objection to the referral of a suit for
 1-9     dissolution of a marriage to mediation on the basis of family
1-10     violence having been committed against the objecting party by the
1-11     other party.  After an objection is filed, the suit may not be
1-12     referred to mediation unless the other party requests a hearing on
1-13     the objection.  If the court finds that a preponderance of the
1-14     evidence supports the objection, the court may not refer the suit
1-15     to mediation.
1-16           SECTION 2.  Section 153.0071, Family Code, is amended by
1-17     adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
1-18           (f)  A party may at any time prior to the final mediation
1-19     order file a written objection to the referral of a suit affecting
1-20     the parent-child relationship to mediation on the basis of family
1-21     violence having been committed by another party against the
1-22     objecting party or a child who is the subject of the suit.  After
1-23     an objection is filed, the suit may not be referred to mediation
1-24     unless a party requests a hearing on the objection.  If the court
 2-1     finds that a preponderance of the evidence supports the objection,
 2-2     the court may not refer the suit to mediation.  If the court does
 2-3     not find sufficient evidence to support the objection, the court
 2-4     may refer the suit to mediation. Upon referral of the suit to
 2-5     mediation, the court shall order that appropriate measures be taken
 2-6     to ensure the physical and emotional safety of the party who filed
 2-7     the objection.  The order shall provide that the parties not be
 2-8     required to have face-to-face contact and be placed in separate
 2-9     rooms during mediation.  This subsection does not apply to suits
2-10     filed under Chapter 262.
2-11           SECTION 3.  Section 154.022, Civil Practice and Remedies
2-12     Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
2-13           (d)  Evidence that a party has committed an act of family
2-14     violence against another party shall be sufficient evidence for an
2-15     objection filed under Subsection (b).
2-16           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-17     applies to a pending suit affecting the parent-child relationship,
2-18     a pending suit for dissolution of a marriage, or a pending suit
2-19     which may be referred to mediation under Chapter 154, Civil
2-20     Practice and Remedies Code, without regard to whether the suit was
2-21     commenced before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
2-22           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.