Amend HB 1481 (Senate committee printing) by adding the 
following appropriately number SECTION to the bill and renumbering 
subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
	 SECTION ___.  Sections 263.401(a), (b), and (c), Family 
Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Unless the court has commenced the trial on the merits
[rendered a final order] or granted an extension under Subsection 
(b), on the first Monday after the first anniversary of the date the 
court rendered a temporary order appointing the department as 
temporary managing conservator, the court shall dismiss the suit 
affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the department 
that requests termination of the parent-child relationship or 
requests that the department be named conservator of the child.
	(b)  Unless the court has commenced the trial on the merits, 
the [The] court may not retain the suit on the court's docket after 
the time described by Subsection (a) unless the court finds that 
extraordinary circumstances necessitate the child remaining in the 
temporary managing conservatorship of the department and that 
continuing the appointment of the department as temporary managing 
conservator is in the best interest of the child.  If the court 
makes those findings, the court may retain the suit on the court's 
docket for a period not to exceed 180 days after the time described 
by Subsection (a).  If the court retains the suit on the court's 
docket, the court shall render an order in which the court:
		(1)  schedules the new date on which the suit will be 
dismissed if the trial on the merits has not commenced, which date 
must be [for dismissal of the suit] not later than the 180th day 
after the time described by Subsection (a);
		(2)  makes further temporary orders for the safety and 
welfare of the child as necessary to avoid further delay in 
resolving the suit; and
		(3)  sets the trial on the merits [a final hearing] on a 
date not later than the date specified under Subdivision (1) [that 
allows the court to render a final order before the required date 
for dismissal of the suit under this subsection].
	(c)  If the court grants an extension but does not commence 
the trial on the merits [render a final order or dismiss the suit on 
or] before the required date for dismissal under Subsection (b), 
the court shall dismiss the suit.  The court may not grant an 
additional extension that extends the suit beyond the required date 
for dismissal under Subsection (b).
	SECTION ___.  Section 263.402(b), Family Code, is amended to 
read as follows:
	(b)  A party to a suit under this chapter who fails to make a 
timely motion to dismiss the suit [or to make a motion requesting 
the court to render a final order before the deadline for dismissal] 
under this subchapter waives the right to object to the court's 
failure to dismiss the suit.  A motion to dismiss under this 
subsection is timely if the motion is made before the [department 
has introduced all of the department's evidence, other than 
rebuttal evidence, at the] trial on the merits commences.
	SECTION ___.  Sections 263.403(b) and (c), Family Code, are 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  If the court renders an order under this section, the 
court shall:      
		(1)  include in the order specific findings regarding 
the grounds for the order; and
		(2)  schedule a new date, not later than the 180th day 
after the date the temporary order is rendered, for dismissal of the 
suit unless a trial on the merits has commenced.
	(c)  If a child placed with a parent under this section must 
be moved from that home by the department before the dismissal of 
the suit or the commencement of the trial on the merits [rendering 
of a final order], the court shall, at the time of the move, 
schedule a new date for dismissal of the suit unless a trial on the 
merits has commenced.  The new dismissal date may not be later than 
the original dismissal date established under Section 263.401 or 
the 180th day after the date the child is moved under this 
subsection, whichever date is later.
	SECTION ___.  Section 263.401(d), Family Code, is repealed.                    
	SECTION ___.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only 
to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed on or after 
the effective date of this Act.  A suit affecting the parent-child 
relationship filed before the effective date of this Act is 
governed by the law in effect at the time the suit was filed, and the 
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.