1-1 By: Menendez (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte) H.B. No. 1377
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001;
1-3 May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Jurisprudence; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following
1-5 vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the requirements for a suit filed by the Department of
1-9 Protective and Regulatory Services to terminate the parent-child
1-10 relationship.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 161.003(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-13 read as follows:
1-14 (a) The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-15 relationship in a suit filed by the Department of Protective and
1-16 Regulatory Services if the court finds that:
1-17 (1) the parent has a mental or emotional illness or a
1-18 mental deficiency that renders the parent unable to provide for the
1-19 physical, emotional, and mental needs of the child;
1-20 (2) the illness or deficiency, in all reasonable
1-21 probability, proved by clear and convincing evidence, will continue
1-22 to render the parent unable to provide for the child's needs until
1-23 the 18th birthday of the child;
1-24 (3) the department has been the temporary or sole
1-25 managing conservator of the child of the parent for at least [the]
1-26 six months preceding the date of the hearing on the termination
1-27 held in accordance with Subsection (c) [filing of the petition];
1-28 (4) the department has made reasonable efforts to
1-29 return the child to the parent; and
1-30 (5) the termination is in the best interest of the
1-31 child.
1-32 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-33 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies to a suit to
1-34 terminate the parent-child relationship filed by the Department of
1-35 Protective and Regulatory Services on or after the effective date
1-36 of this Act. A suit filed before the effective date of this Act is
1-37 governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and
1-38 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-39 * * * * *