This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.

                                                                                
79R17530 KKA-F


By:  Van de Putte                                                 S.B. No. 393

Substitute the following for S.B. No. 393:                                    

By:  Goodman                                                  C.S.S.B. No. 393



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the exercise of limited possession and visitation 
rights by a designated person on behalf of a parent serving in the 
armed forces and deployed outside this country.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 153, Family Code, is 
amended by adding Section 153.3161 to read as follows:
	Sec. 153.3161.  LIMITED POSSESSION DURING MILITARY 
DEPLOYMENT.  (a)  In addition to the general terms and conditions of 
possession required by Section 153.316, if a possessory conservator 
or a joint managing conservator of the child without the exclusive 
right to designate the primary residence of the child is currently a 
member of the armed forces of the state or the United States or is 
reasonably expected to join those forces, the court shall:
		(1)  permit that conservator to designate a person who 
may exercise limited possession of the child during any period that 
the conservator is deployed outside of the United States; and
		(2)  if the conservator elects to designate a person 
under Subdivision (1), provide in the order for limited possession 
of the child by the designated person under those circumstances, 
subject to the court's determination that the limited possession is 
in the best interest of the child.
	(b)  If the court determines that the limited possession is 
in the best interest of the child, the court shall provide in the 
order that during periods of deployment:
		(1)  the designated person has the right to possession 
of the child on the first weekend of each month beginning at 6 p.m. 
on Friday and ending at 6 p.m. on Sunday;
		(2)  the other parent shall surrender the child to the 
designated person at the beginning of each period of possession at 
the other parent's residence;
		(3)  the designated person shall return the child to 
the other parent's residence at the end of each period of 
possession;
		(4)  the child's other parent and the designated person 
are subject to the requirements of Sections 153.316(5)-(9);
		(5)  the designated person has the rights and duties of 
a nonparent possessory conservator under Section 153.376(a) during 
the period that the person has possession of the child; and
		(6)  the designated person is subject to any provision 
in a court order restricting or prohibiting access to the child by 
any specified individual.
	(c)  After the deployment is concluded, and the deployed 
parent returns to that parent's usual residence, the designated 
person's right to limited possession under this section terminates 
and the rights of all affected parties are governed by the terms of 
any court order applicable when a parent is not deployed.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter B, Chapter 156, Family Code, is 
amended by adding Section 156.105 to read as follows:
	Sec. 156.105.  MODIFICATION OF ORDER BASED ON MILITARY 
DEPLOYMENT.  (a)  The military deployment outside this country of a 
person who is a possessory conservator or a joint managing 
conservator without the exclusive right to designate the primary 
residence of the child is a material and substantial change of 
circumstances sufficient to justify a modification of an existing 
court order or portion of a decree that sets the terms and 
conditions for the possession of or access to a child.
	(b)  If the court determines that modification is in the best 
interest of the child, the court may modify the order or decree to 
provide in a manner consistent with Section 153.3161 for limited 
possession of the child during the period of the deployment by a 
person designated by the deployed conservator.
	SECTION 3.  Section 153.3161, Family Code, as added by this 
Act, applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship 
pending in a trial court on or filed on or after the effective date 
of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  Section 156.105, Family Code, as added by this 
Act, applies only to an action to modify an order in a suit 
affecting the parent-child relationship pending in a trial court on 
or filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.