1-1     By:  Thompson (Senate Sponsor - West)                 H.B. No. 2381
 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 appeal of certain suits affecting the parent-child
 1-9     relationship.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1. Section 109.001, Family Code, is amended by adding
1-12     Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-13           (d)  The court may not suspend under Subsection (a)(6) the
1-14     operation of an order or judgment terminating the parent-child
1-15     relationship in a suit brought by the state or a political
1-16     subdivision of the state permitted by law to bring the suit.
1-17           SECTION 2. Sections 109.002(a) and (c), Family Code, are
1-18     amended to read as follows:
1-19           (a)  An appeal from a final order rendered in a suit, when
1-20     allowed under this section or under other provisions of law, shall
1-21     be as in civil cases generally.  An appeal in a suit in which
1-22     termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue shall be
1-23     given precedence over other civil cases and shall be accelerated by
1-24     the appellate courts.  The procedures for an accelerated appeal
1-25     under the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure apply to an appeal in
1-26     which the termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue.
1-27           (c)  An appeal from a final order, with or without a
1-28     supersedeas bond, does not suspend the order unless suspension is
1-29     ordered by the court rendering the order.  The appellate court, on
1-30     a proper showing, may permit the order to be suspended, unless the
1-31     order provides for the termination of the parent-child relationship
1-32     in a suit brought by the state or a political subdivision of the
1-33     state permitted by law to bring the suit.
1-34           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-35     applies only to an appeal in a suit affecting the parent-child
1-36     relationship pending on or commenced on or after the effective date
1-37     of this Act.
1-38                                  * * * * *