79R8407 MFC-D


By:  Solomons                                                     H.B. No. 852

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 852:                                    

By:  Madden                                                   C.S.H.B. No. 852



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the liability of in-home service companies and 
residential delivery companies for negligent hiring.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 145.001, Civil Practice and Remedies 
Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (1-a) to read as follows:
		(1-a)  "Residence" means a person's principal or 
ordinary home or dwelling place and includes:
			(A)  any garage that is attached to the home or 
dwelling place; and 
			(B)  any construction area that is attached to and 
accessible from the inhabited area or the attached garage of the 
home or dwelling place.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 145, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, 
is amended by adding Section 145.0015 to read as follows:
	Sec. 145.0015.  SHORT TITLE.  This chapter may be cited as 
the Sue Weaver Act.
	SECTION 3.  Section 145.002, Civil Practice and Remedies 
Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 145.002.  CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK.  (a) An 
in-home service company or residential delivery company shall 
obtain from the Department of Public Safety or a private vendor 
[approved by the department and offering services comparable to the 
services offered by the department] all criminal history record 
information relating to an officer, employee, or prospective 
employee of the company whose job duties require or will require 
entry into another person's residence.
	(b)  Criminal history record information obtained by an 
in-home service company or residential delivery company under 
Subsection (a) may not be released or disclosed to any person except 
on court order, on proper discovery request during litigation, or 
with the consent of the person who is the subject of the criminal 
history record information.
	(c)  The in-home service company or residential delivery 
company may not destroy a person's criminal history record 
information obtained under this section before the second 
anniversary of the date on which the person's office or employment 
with the company ends or the company determines not to employ the 
person, as applicable.
	SECTION 4.  Section 145.003(b), Civil Practice and Remedies 
Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(b)  In an action to which this section applies, an in-home 
service company or residential delivery company is rebuttably 
presumed to have not acted negligently if:
		(1)  the company obtained criminal history record 
information regarding the officer or employee; [and]
		(2)  the criminal history record information shows 
that, in the 20 years preceding the date the information was 
obtained for a felony or in the 10 years preceding the date the 
information was obtained for a misdemeanor, the officer or employee 
had not been convicted of:
			(A)  an offense in this state classified as:                                 
				(i)  an offense against the person or the 
family;                         
				(ii)  an offense against property; or                                       
				(iii)  public indecency; or                                                 
			(B)  an offense in another jurisdiction that would 
be classified in a category described by Paragraph (A) if the 
offense had occurred in this state; and
		(3)  the private vendor that performs the background 
check, if applicable, has provided the company with the most 
recently updated criminal background information available from 
the Department of Public Safety at the time the background check was 
performed.
	SECTION 5.  Section 411.1181, Government Code, as added by 
Chapter 228, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, 
is repealed.
	SECTION 6.  (a)  The change in law made by Section 1 of this 
Act to Section 145.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies 
only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective 
date of this Act.  A cause of action that accrues before the 
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect 
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect 
for that purpose.
	(b)  Sections 3, 4, and 5 of this Act apply only to criminal 
history background check information obtained by an in-home service 
company or residential delivery company on or after the effective 
date of this Act.  Criminal history background check information 
obtained before the effective date of this Act is governed by the 
law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.