|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to persons entitled to notice of and to participation in |
|
certain hearings regarding a child in the conservatorship of the |
|
state. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 263.301(b), Family Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(b) The following persons are entitled to at least 10 days' |
|
notice of a permanency hearing and are entitled to present evidence |
|
and be heard at the hearing: |
|
(1) the department; |
|
(2) the foster parent, preadoptive parent, relative of |
|
the child providing care, or director of the group home or |
|
institution where the child is residing; |
|
(3) each parent of the child; |
|
(4) the managing conservator or guardian of the child; |
|
(5) an attorney ad litem appointed for the child under |
|
Chapter 107; |
|
(6) a volunteer advocate appointed for the child under |
|
Chapter 107; [and] |
|
(7) the child if: |
|
(A) the child is 10 years of age or older; or |
|
(B) the court determines it is appropriate for |
|
the child to receive notice; and |
|
(8) any other person or agency named by the court to |
|
have an interest in the child's welfare. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 263.501(d), Family Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(d) The following are entitled to not less than 10 days' |
|
notice of a placement review hearing and are entitled to present |
|
evidence and be heard at the hearing: |
|
(1) the department; |
|
(2) the foster parent, preadoptive parent, relative of |
|
the child providing care, or director of the group home or |
|
institution in which the child is residing; |
|
(3) each parent of the child; |
|
(4) each possessory conservator or guardian of the |
|
child; |
|
(5) the child's attorney ad litem and volunteer |
|
advocate, if the appointments were not dismissed in the final |
|
order; [and] |
|
(6) the child if: |
|
(A) the child is 10 years of age or older; or |
|
(B) the court determines it is appropriate for |
|
the child to receive notice; and |
|
(7) any other person or agency named by the court as |
|
having an interest in the child's welfare. |
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
to a hearing held on or after September 10, 2013. A hearing held |
|
before that date is governed by the law as it existed immediately |
|
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in |
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 843 was passed by the House on May 2, |
|
2013, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 0, 2 present, not |
|
voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 843 was passed by the Senate on May |
|
20, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: _____________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
_____________________ |
|
Governor |