1-1     By:  Thompson (Senate Sponsor - West)                 H.B. No. 2158
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 9, 2001;
 1-3     April 9, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 1, 2001, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 1, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the acceleration of the appeal in certain suits
 1-9     affecting the parent-child relationship.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1. Section 109.002(a), Family Code, is amended to
1-12     read as follows:
1-13           (a)  An appeal from a final order rendered in a suit, when
1-14     allowed under this section or under other provisions of law, shall
1-15     be as in civil cases generally.  An appeal in a suit in which
1-16     termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue shall be
1-17     given precedence over other civil cases and shall be accelerated by
1-18     the appellate courts.  The procedures for an accelerated appeal
1-19     under the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure apply to an appeal in
1-20     which the termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue.
1-21           SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-22     applies only to an appeal in a suit affecting the parent-child
1-23     relationship pending on or begun on or after that date.
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