78R1647 KSD-D
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 262, 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 the manner described by Subsection (c) 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.