BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2301

By: Campos

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that adoption agencies are currently required to notify potential fathers that their potential child may be placed for adoption. However, the bill author has also informed the committee that these agencies have expressed concerns that the state can take too much time in producing a paternity list, delaying the adoption process. C.S.H.B. 2301 seeks to accelerate this process by requiring the state vital statistics unit to provide a certificate of the search results for paternity within 10 days of receiving a request, reducing delays that may be caused by the state.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2301 amends the Family Code to establish a deadline in which the vital statistics unit of the Department of State Health Services must furnish a certificate of the results of a search of the registry of paternity of not later than the 10th day after the date of the receipt of a request by an authorized individual, court, or agency.

C.S.H.B. 2301 applies only to a request for a search of the state registry of paternity made on or after the bill's effective date. A request for a search of the registry made before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the request was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2301 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute omits the following provisions from the introduced:

· provisions changing the deadline from not later than the 31st day to not later than the 14th day after the date of a child's birth for a man who desires to be notified of a proceeding for the adoption of or the termination of parental rights regarding a child that he may have fathered to register with the registry of paternity and clarifying that the unit must notify a registrant who registers later than the deadline that the registration was not timely filed;

· provisions changing the date on which a petitioner for the adoption of or the termination of parental rights regarding a child may request a search of the registry of paternity, for purposes of obtaining a certificate of the results of a search, if a father-child relationship has not been established under the Uniform Parentage Act from on or after the 32nd day to on or after the 15th day after the date of a child's birth; and

· provisions establishing that these omitted amendments applied only to the time requirements for registering with the state registry of paternity or a request for a search of the registry regarding a child born on or after the bill's effective date, and that the former law was continued in effect for those purposes.