By:  Menendez                                                     H.B. No. 518



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the service of citation by publication in a suit 
affecting the parent-child relationship.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 102.010, Family Code, is amended by 
adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
	(d)  In any suit in which service of citation is by 
publication, a statement of the evidence of service, approved and 
signed by the court, must be filed with the papers of the suit as a 
part of the record.
	(e)  In a suit filed under Chapter 161 or 262 in which the 
first or last name of the respondent is unknown, the court may order 
substituted service of citation by publication, including 
publication by posting the citation at the courthouse door for a 
specified time, if the court finds and states in its order that the 
method of substituted service is as likely as citation by 
publication in a newspaper in the manner described by Subsection 
(b) to give the respondent actual notice of the suit.  If the court 
orders that citation by publication shall be completed by posting 
the citation at the courthouse door for a specified time, service 
must be completed on, and the answer date is computed from, the 
expiration date of the posting period.  If the court orders another 
method of substituted service of citation by publication, service 
shall be completed as directed by the court.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship 
filed on or after that date.  A suit affecting the parent-child 
relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is 
governed by the law in effect on the date that the suit was filed, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.