77R7292 MCK-D
By Moncrief, et al. S.B. No. 140
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 140:
By Goodman C.S.S.B. No. 140
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the appointment of a person who has a history of abuse
1-3 or neglect as a sole managing conservator.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 153.004(b), Family Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (b) The court may not appoint joint managing conservators if
1-8 credible evidence is presented of a history or pattern of past or
1-9 present child neglect, or physical or sexual abuse by one parent
1-10 directed against the other parent, a spouse, or a child. It is a
1-11 rebuttable presumption that the appointment of a parent as the sole
1-12 managing conservator of a child or as the conservator who has the
1-13 exclusive right to determine the primary residence of a child is
1-14 not in the best interest of the child if credible evidence is
1-15 presented of a history or pattern of past or present child neglect,
1-16 or physical or sexual abuse by that parent directed against the
1-17 other parent, a spouse, or a child.
1-18 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-19 applies only to an order in a suit affecting the parent-child
1-20 relationship rendered on or after that date, without regard to
1-21 whether the suit was filed before, on, or after that date.
1-22 (b) The enactment of this Act does not by itself constitute
1-23 a material and substantial change of circumstances sufficient to
1-24 warrant modification of a court order or portion of a decree that
2-1 provides for the possession of or access to a child rendered before
2-2 the effective date of this Act.