By: Thompson, Gonzalez (Senate Sponsor - Harris) H.B. No. 905
         (In the Senate - Received from the House March 31, 2011;
  April 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Jurisprudence; April 27, 2011, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 27, 2011, sent to printer.)
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the admissibility of certain hearsay statements of a
  child in hearings on an application for a protective order.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 84, Family Code, is amended by adding
  Section 84.006 to read as follows:
         Sec. 84.006.  HEARSAY STATEMENT OF CHILD VICTIM OF FAMILY
  VIOLENCE. In a hearing on an application for a protective order, a
  statement made by a child 12 years of age or younger that describes
  alleged family violence against the child is admissible as evidence
  in the same manner that a child's statement regarding alleged abuse
  against the child is admissible under Section 104.006 in a suit
  affecting the parent-child relationship.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a hearing on an application for a protective order that is commenced
  on or after the effective date of this Act. A hearing on an
  application for a protective order that is commenced before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the hearing was commenced, and that law is continued in effect
  for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
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