By: Hughes  S.B. No. 1269
         (In the Senate - Filed February 27, 2023; March 9, 2023,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 31, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
  Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 31, 2023,
  sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1269 By:  Paxton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to admissibility and disclosure of certain evidence in a
  suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the
  Department of Family and Protective Services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 104, Family Code, is amended by
  designating Sections 104.001 through 104.008 as Subchapter A and
  adding a subchapter heading to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER A.  GENERAL PROVISIONS
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 104, Family Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter B to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER B.  SUITS FILED BY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE
  SERVICES
         Sec. 104.101.  DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "department"
  means the Department of Family and Protective Services.
         Sec. 104.102.  STATEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL UNDERGOING SUBSTANCE
  USE DISORDER TREATMENT OR EVALUATION. In a suit affecting the
  parent-child relationship filed by the department concerning a
  child who is alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, a
  statement made by an individual undergoing voluntary or
  court-ordered treatment for a substance use disorder, or undergoing
  an evaluation for admission to treatment for a substance use
  disorder, is not admissible for use against the individual if the
  statement was made to any person involved in the individual's
  treatment or evaluation.
         Sec. 104.103.  STATEMENT BY INDIVIDUAL UNDERGOING MENTAL
  HEALTH TREATMENT OR EVALUATION. In a suit affecting the
  parent-child relationship filed by the department concerning a
  child who is alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, a
  statement made by an individual undergoing voluntary or
  court-ordered therapeutic treatment for a mental illness, or
  undergoing a psychological or psychiatric evaluation for that
  treatment, is not admissible for use against the individual if the
  statement was made to any person involved in the individual's
  treatment or evaluation.
         Sec. 104.104.  STATEMENT BY PERSON REQUIRED TO REPORT ABUSE
  OR NEGLECT OF CHILD. In a suit affecting the parent-child
  relationship filed by the department concerning a child who is
  alleged in the suit to have been abused or neglected, an
  out-of-court statement regarding the alleged abuse or neglect made
  to the department under Subchapter B, Chapter 261, is not
  admissible into evidence at any evidentiary proceeding unless the
  statement can be independently corroborated by other evidence.
         SECTION 3.  Section 262.014, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 262.014.  DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE.  The [On the
  request of the attorney for a parent who is a party in a suit
  affecting the parent-child relationship filed under this chapter,
  or the attorney ad litem for the parent's child, the] Department of
  Family and Protective Services shall, not later than the seventh
  day before the date of the full adversary hearing, provide to each
  party:
               (1)  the name of any person, excluding a department
  employee, whom the department will call as a witness to any of the
  allegations contained in the petition filed by the department and
  any witness statement provided by the person;
               (2)  a copy of any offense report relating to the
  allegations contained in the petition filed by the department that
  will be used in court to refresh a witness's memory; [and]
               (3)  a copy of any photograph, video, or recording that
  will be presented as evidence;
               (4)  a copy of any report submitted to the department by
  a medical provider with the forensic assessment center network
  regarding a child who is the subject of the suit;
               (5)  all exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating
  evidence in the possession, custody, or control of the department
  or its agent that:
                     (A)  is relevant to a parent who is a party in the
  suit; and
                     (B)  tends to negate any claim of abuse or neglect
  of a child by the parent; and
               (6)  a true and correct copy of the department's
  investigative file, including the intake report with only the name
  of the reporting party redacted.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies to a
  suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed by the
  Department of Family and Protective Services on or after the
  effective date of this Act.  A suit affecting the parent-child
  relationship filed by the department before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit was
  filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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