78R1890 KSD-D
By: King H.B. No. 2203
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption of, or termination of parental rights
regarding, a child.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 102.003(a), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) An original suit may be filed at any time by:
(1) a parent of the child;
(2) the child through a representative authorized by
the court;
(3) a custodian or person having the right of
visitation with or access to the child appointed by an order of a
court of another state or country;
(4) a guardian of the person or of the estate of the
child;
(5) a governmental entity;
(6) an authorized agency;
(7) a licensed child placing agency;
(8) a man alleging himself to be the father of a child
filing in accordance with Chapter 160, subject to the limitations
of that chapter, but not otherwise;
(9) a person, other than a foster parent, who has had
actual care, control, and possession of the child for at least six
months ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the filing
of the petition;
(10) a person designated as the managing conservator
in a revoked or unrevoked affidavit of relinquishment under Chapter
161 or to whom consent to adoption has been given in writing under
Chapter 162;
(11) a person with whom the child and the child's
guardian, managing conservator, or parent have resided for at least
six months ending not more than 90 days preceding the date of the
filing of the petition if the child's guardian, managing
conservator, or parent is deceased at the time of the filing of the
petition;
(12) a person who is the foster parent of a child
placed by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services in
the person's home for at least nine [12] months ending not more than
90 days preceding the date of the filing of the petition; or
(13) a person who is a relative of the child within the
third degree by consanguinity, as determined by Chapter 573,
Government Code, if the child's parents are deceased at the time of
the filing of the petition.
SECTION 2. Section 102.008(b), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The petition must include:
(1) a statement that the court in which the petition is
filed has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction or that no court has
continuing jurisdiction of the suit;
(2) the name and date of birth of the child, except
that if adoption of a child is requested, the name of the child may
be omitted;
(3) the full name of the petitioner and the
petitioner's relationship to the child or the fact that no
relationship exists;
(4) the names of the parents, except in a suit in which
adoption is requested and parental rights have been terminated;
(5) the name of the managing conservator, if any, or
the child's custodian, if any, appointed by order of a court of
another state or country;
(6) the names of the guardians of the person and estate
of the child, if any;
(7) the names of possessory conservators or other
persons, if any, having possession of or access to the child under
an order of the court;
(8) the name of an alleged father of the child or a
statement that the identity of the father of the child is unknown,
except in a suit in which adoption is requested and parental rights
have been terminated;
(9) a full description and statement of value of all
property owned or possessed by the child;
(10) a statement describing what action the court is
requested to take concerning the child and the statutory grounds on
which the request is made; and
(11) any other information required by this title.
SECTION 3. Sections 160.422(c) and (d), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] petitioner
must file the certificate of the results of a search of the registry
with the court before a proceeding for the adoption of or
termination of parental rights regarding a child may be concluded.
(d) A search of the registry is not required if the only man
alleged to be the father of the child:
(1) has signed a waiver of interest in, or
relinquishment of parental rights with regard to, the child; or
(2) has been personally served with citation regarding
a proceeding for the adoption of the alleged father's child or the
termination of the alleged father's parental rights.
SECTION 4. Section 161.002, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(b) The rights of an alleged father may be terminated if:
(1) after being served with citation, he does not
respond by timely filing an admission of paternity or a
counterclaim for paternity under Chapter 160;
(2) he has not registered with the paternity registry
under Chapter 160, and after the exercise of due diligence by the
petitioner:
(A) his identity and location are unknown; or
(B) his identity is known but he cannot be
located; [or]
(3) he has registered with the paternity registry
under Chapter 160, but the petitioner's attempt to personally serve
citation at the address provided to the registry and at any other
address for the alleged father known by the petitioner has been
unsuccessful, despite the due diligence of the petitioner; or
(4) he has committed an act or omission described by
Section 161.001.
(g) The court may render an interlocutory order terminating
the parental rights of an alleged father before the birth of the
child if, after being served with citation, the alleged father does
not answer or appear on or before the date set for his answer or
appearance.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 161, is amended by adding
Section 161.1015 to read as follows:
Sec. 161.1015. JURISDICTION IN CERTAIN TERMINATION SUITS.
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), a court of this
state has jurisdiction of a proceeding to terminate parental rights
regarding a child only if:
(1) the child lived in this state with a parent,
guardian, person acting as a parent to the child, or person seeking
to adopt the child for at least the six-month period preceding the
commencement of the proceeding;
(2) in the case of a child who is less than six months
of age:
(A) the child lived in this state with a parent,
guardian, person acting as a parent to the child, or person seeking
to adopt the child beginning soon after the child's birth; and
(B) substantial evidence is available in this
state concerning the child's care, protection, training, and
personal relationships;
(3) the person seeking to adopt the child lived in this
state for at least the six-month period preceding the commencement
of the proceeding and there is available in this state substantial
evidence concerning the child's present or future care;
(4) the agency that placed the child for adoption is
located in this state and substantial evidence is available in this
state concerning the child's care, protection, training, and
personal relationships;
(5) the child and the person seeking to adopt the child
are present in this state and:
(A) the child has been abandoned;
(B) the child has been abused or neglected; or
(C) the child has been threatened with
mistreatment or abuse;
(6) a court of another state does not have
jurisdiction under Subdivisions (1)-(4) and substantial evidence
is available in this state concerning the child's care, protection,
training, and personal relationships; or
(7) a court of another state has declined to exercise
jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate
forum under Section 152.207 or 152.208 and substantial evidence is
available in this state concerning the child's care, protection,
training, and personal relationships.
(b) A court in this state may not exercise jurisdiction over
a proceeding to terminate parental rights regarding a child if, at
the time the petition is filed, a proceeding concerning the
conservatorship of the child is pending in a court of another state
exercising jurisdiction substantially in conformity with Chapter
152 unless the proceeding is stayed by the court of the other state
on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum or for
any other reason.
(c) If a court of another state has rendered an order
concerning the conservatorship of a child who may be the subject of
a termination proceeding in this state, a court of this state may
exercise jurisdiction over a termination proceeding regarding the
child only if the court of this state has jurisdiction over the
termination proceeding under this section and:
(1) the requirements for modifying an order of a court
of another state under Chapter 152 are met;
(2) the court of another state does not have
jurisdiction over a termination proceeding regarding the child; or
(3) the court of another state has declined to
exercise jurisdiction over a termination proceeding regarding the
child.
SECTION 6. Section 162.001, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A child who does not reside in this state may be adopted
only if at least one of the grounds under Subsection (b) is
satisfied and:
(1) the child is subject to the continuing
jurisdiction of a court of this state; or
(2) there is some other basis on which a court of this
state may assume jurisdiction over the child.
SECTION 7. Subchapter A, Chapter 162, Family Code, is
amended by amending Sections 162.0085 and 162.012 and adding
Section 162.023 to read as follows:
Sec. 162.0085. CRIMINAL HISTORY REPORT REQUIRED. (a) In a
suit affecting the parent-child relationship in which an adoption
is sought, the court shall order each person seeking to adopt the
child to obtain that person's own criminal history record
information. The court shall accept under this section a person's
criminal history record information that is provided by the
Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or by a licensed
child-placing agency that received the information from the
department if the information was obtained not more than 18 months
[one year] before the date the court ordered the history to be
obtained. The court shall accept under this section the criminal
history record information of a person providing the person's own
criminal history record information if the information was obtained
not more than nine months before the final hearing in the suit.
(b) If a [A] person who is required to obtain information
under this section is a resident of this state, the person
[Subsection (a)] shall obtain the information:
(1) in the manner provided by Section 411.128,
Government Code; or
(2) in any other manner authorized by the court.
(c) If a person who is required to obtain information under
this section is not a resident of this state, the person shall
obtain the information:
(1) in a manner authorized by the law of the state of
which the person is a resident; or
(2) in any other manner authorized by the court.
Sec. 162.012. DIRECT OR COLLATERAL ATTACK. (a)
Notwithstanding Rule 329, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the
validity of an adoption order is not subject to direct or collateral
attack after six months after the date the order was signed.
(b) The validity of a final adoption order is not subject to
direct or collateral attack because a health, social, educational,
and genetic history was not filed.
Sec. 162.023. ADOPTION ORDER FROM FOREIGN COUNTRY. (a)
Except as otherwise provided by federal law, an adoption order
rendered to a United States citizen that is made under due process
of law by a foreign country shall be accorded full faith and credit
by the courts of this state and enforced as if the order were
rendered by a court in this state.
(b) A person who adopts a child in a foreign country may
register the order in this state. A petition for registration of a
foreign adoption order may be combined with a petition for a name
change. If the court finds that the foreign adoption order meets
the requirements of Subsection (a), the court shall order the state
registrar to:
(1) register the order under Chapter 192, Health and
Safety Code; and
(2) file a certificate of birth for the child under
Section 192.006, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 8. Section 162.101, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 162.101. DEFINITIONS. (a) In this subchapter:
(1) "Appropriate public authorities," with reference
to this state, means the executive director.
(2) "Appropriate authority in the receiving state,"
with reference to this state, means the executive director.
(3) "Compact" means the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children.
(4) "Executive head," with reference to this state,
means the governor.
(b) In Article V of the compact, "jurisdiction" means the
legal responsibility for the child and does not mean jurisdiction
as it relates to the filing of a suit. The addition of this
subsection is intended as a technical clarification of the compact
and is not intended to make a substantive change to the compact.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
102.003 and 102.008, Family Code, apply only to a suit affecting the
parent-child relationship filed on or after the effective date of
this Act. A suit filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. Section 161.1015, Family Code, as added by this
Act, and the changes in law made by this Act to Section 161.002,
Family Code, apply only to a suit affecting the parent-child
relationship in which termination of the parent-child relationship
is sought filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit
affecting the parent-child relationship in which termination of the
parent-child relationship is sought filed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act to Section
160.422, Family Code, applies only to a suit for the adoption of a
child or for termination of parental rights regarding a child filed
on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit for adoption or
for termination of parental rights filed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
162.001 and 162.0085, Family Code, apply only to a suit affecting
the parent-child relationship in which adoption is sought filed on
or after the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the suit was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.