82R577 KSD-F

By: Thompson H.B. No. 906

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to appointments made in and the appeal of certain suits

affecting the parent-child relationship.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 107.013, Family Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:

(e) A parent who the court has determined is indigent for

purposes of this section is presumed to remain indigent during the

pendency of the suit unless the court, after reconsideration on the

motion of the parent, the attorney ad litem for the parent, or the

attorney representing the governmental entity, determines that the

parent is no longer indigent due to a material and substantial

change in the parent's financial circumstances.

SECTION 2. Part 1, Subchapter B, Chapter 107, Family Code,

is amended by adding Section 107.014 to read as follows:

Sec. 107.014. DURATION OF APPOINTMENT. Subject to Section

107.016, in a suit filed by a governmental entity seeking

termination of the parent-child relationship or the appointment of

a conservator for a child, an attorney appointed under this

subchapter to serve as an attorney ad litem for the child, as an

attorney in the dual role, or as an attorney ad litem for a parent

shall continue to serve in that capacity until the earliest of:

(1) the date the suit is dismissed;

(2) the date all appeals are exhausted or waived; or

(3) the date the attorney is relieved of the attorney's

duties in the suit and replaced by another attorney after a finding

of good cause is rendered by the court on the record.

SECTION 3. Section 109.002(a), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a) An appeal from a final order rendered in a suit, when

allowed under this section or under other provisions of law, shall

be as in civil cases generally under the Texas Rules of Appellate

Procedure. An appeal in a suit in which termination of the

parent-child relationship is in issue shall be given precedence

over other civil cases and shall be accelerated by the appellate

courts. The procedures for an accelerated appeal under the Texas

Rules of Appellate Procedure apply to an appeal in which the

termination of the parent-child relationship is in issue.

SECTION 4. Sections 263.405(a), (b), and (c), Family Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(a) An appeal of a final order rendered under this

subchapter is governed by the procedures [rules of the supreme

court] for accelerated appeals in civil cases under the Texas Rules

of Appellate Procedure [and the procedures provided by this

section]. The appellate court shall render its final order or

judgment with the least possible delay.

(b) A final order rendered under this subchapter must

contain the following prominently displayed statement in boldfaced

type, in capital letters, or underlined: "A PARTY AFFECTED BY THIS

ORDER HAS THE RIGHT TO APPEAL. AN APPEAL IN A SUIT IN WHICH

TERMINATION OF THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IS SOUGHT IS GOVERNED

BY THE PROCEDURES FOR ACCELERATED APPEALS IN CIVIL CASES UNDER THE

TEXAS RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE TEXAS

RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE FOR ACCELERATED APPEALS MAY RESULT IN

THE DISMISSAL OF THE APPEAL." [Not later than the 15th day after the

date a final order is signed by the trial judge, a party who intends

to request a new trial or appeal the order must file with the trial

court:

[(1) a request for a new trial; or

[(2) if an appeal is sought, a statement of the point

or points on which the party intends to appeal.]

(c) The supreme court shall adopt rules accelerating the

disposition by the appellate court and the supreme court of an

appeal of a final order granting termination of the parent-child

relationship rendered under this subchapter. [A motion for a new

trial, a request for findings of fact and conclusions of law, or any

other post-trial motion in the trial court does not extend the

deadline for filing a notice of appeal under Rule 26.1(b), Texas

Rules of Appellate Procedure, or the deadline for filing an

affidavit of indigence under Rule 20, Texas Rules of Appellate

Procedure.]

SECTION 5. Sections 263.405(b-1), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h),

and (i), Family Code, are repealed.

SECTION 6. The Supreme Court of Texas shall adopt rules of

appellate procedure as required by Section 263.405(c), Family Code,

as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective

date of this Act, but not later than March 1, 2012.

SECTION 7. Sections 107.013(e) and 107.014, Family Code, as

added by this Act, apply 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 8. Sections 109.002(a) and 263.405(a) and (b),

Family Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a final order

rendered on or after the effective date of this Act. A final order

rendered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the

law in effect on the date the order was rendered, and the former law

is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.