Bill Text: TX HB3380 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act; creating criminal offenses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-16 - Referred to Health & Human Services [HB3380 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3380-Engrossed.html
| 88R1520 MLH-D | ||
| By: Cook | H.B. No. 3380 | |
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| relating to the Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act; | ||
| creating criminal offenses. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 5, Family Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Chapter 163 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 163. UNIFORM UNREGULATED CHILD CUSTODY TRANSFER ACT | ||
| SUBCHAPTER A. APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION | ||
| Sec. 163.001. APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION. This chapter | ||
| shall be applied and construed to promote the uniformity of the law | ||
| among the states that enact the Uniform Unregulated Child Custody | ||
| Transfer Act. | ||
| Sec. 163.002. CONFLICTS BETWEEN PROVISIONS. If a provision | ||
| of this chapter conflicts with another provision of this title or | ||
| another state statute or rule and the conflict cannot be | ||
| reconciled, this chapter prevails. | ||
| SUBCHAPTER B. GENERAL PROVISIONS | ||
| Sec. 163.101. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the | ||
| Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act. | ||
| Sec. 163.102. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
| (1) "Child" means an individual under 18 years of age | ||
| who has not been granted by this state or another state a court | ||
| order removing the disabilities of minority of the individual for | ||
| general purposes. | ||
| (2) "Child-placing agency" means a person with | ||
| authority under other law of this state to identify or place a child | ||
| for adoption. The term does not include a parent of the child. | ||
| (3) "Custody" means the exercise of physical care and | ||
| supervision of a child. | ||
| (4) "Department" means the Department of Family and | ||
| Protective Services. | ||
| (5) "Intercountry adoption" means an adoption or | ||
| placement for adoption of a child who resides in a foreign country | ||
| at the time of adoption or placement. The term includes an adoption | ||
| finalized in the child's country of residence or in a state. | ||
| (6) "Person" means an individual, estate, business, or | ||
| nonprofit entity, public corporation, government, or governmental | ||
| subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity. | ||
| (7) "Record" means information: | ||
| (A) inscribed on a tangible medium; or | ||
| (B) stored in an electronic or other medium and | ||
| retrievable in perceivable form. | ||
| (8) "State" means a state of the United States, the | ||
| District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin | ||
| Islands, or any other territory or possession subject to the | ||
| jurisdiction of the United States. The term includes a federally | ||
| recognized Indian tribe. | ||
| Sec. 163.103. LIMITATION ON APPLICABILITY. This chapter | ||
| does not apply to custody of an Indian child, as defined in the | ||
| Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. Section 1901 et seq.), | ||
| to the extent custody is governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act. | ||
| SUBCHAPTER C. PROHIBITION OF UNREGULATED CUSTODY TRANSFER | ||
| Sec. 163.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
| (1) "Conservator" means a person recognized as a | ||
| conservator under other law of this state. | ||
| (2) "Intermediary" means a person that assists or | ||
| facilitates a transfer of custody of a child, whether or not for | ||
| compensation. | ||
| Sec. 163.202. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter does not | ||
| apply to a transfer of custody of a child by a parent or conservator | ||
| of the child to: | ||
| (1) a parent of the child; | ||
| (2) a stepparent of the child; | ||
| (3) an adult who is related to the child by | ||
| consanguinity or affinity; | ||
| (4) an adult who, at the time of the transfer, had a | ||
| close relationship with the child or the parent or conservator of | ||
| the child for a substantial period, and whom the parent or | ||
| conservator reasonably believes, at the time of the transfer, to be | ||
| a fit custodian of the child; | ||
| (5) an Indian custodian of the child, as defined by the | ||
| Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. Section 1901 et seq.); | ||
| or | ||
| (6) a member of the child's customary family unit | ||
| recognized by the child's indigenous group under other law of this | ||
| state. | ||
| Sec. 163.203. PROHIBITED CUSTODY TRANSFER. (a) Except as | ||
| provided in Subsection (b), a parent or conservator of a child or an | ||
| individual with whom a child has been placed for adoption may not | ||
| transfer custody of the child to another person with the intent, at | ||
| the time of the transfer, to abandon the rights and | ||
| responsibilities concerning the child. | ||
| (b) A parent or conservator of a child or an individual with | ||
| whom a child has been placed for adoption may transfer custody of | ||
| the child to another person with the intent, at the time of the | ||
| transfer, to abandon the rights and responsibilities concerning the | ||
| child only through: | ||
| (1) adoption or conservatorship; | ||
| (2) judicial award of custody; | ||
| (3) placement by or through a child-placing agency; | ||
| (4) other judicial or tribal action; or | ||
| (5) voluntary delivery of the child to a designated | ||
| emergency infant care provider under Section 262.302. | ||
| (c) A person may not receive custody of a child, or act as an | ||
| intermediary in a transfer of custody of a child, if the person | ||
| knows or reasonably should know the transfer violates Subsection | ||
| (a). This prohibition does not apply if the person, as soon as | ||
| practicable after the transfer, notifies the department of the | ||
| transfer or takes appropriate action to establish custody under | ||
| Subsection (b). | ||
| (d) A person commits an offense if a person violates this | ||
| section. An offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor, | ||
| except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the child | ||
| who is the subject of the offense has been previously adopted. | ||
| (e) A violation of Subsection (a) is not established solely | ||
| because a parent or conservator that transfers custody of a child | ||
| does not regain custody. | ||
| Sec. 163.204. AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF DEPARTMENT. | ||
| (a) If the department has a reasonable basis to believe that a | ||
| person has transferred or will transfer custody of a child in | ||
| violation of Section 163.203(a), the department may conduct a home | ||
| visit as provided by other law of this state and take appropriate | ||
| action to protect the welfare of the child. | ||
| (b) If the department conducts a home visit for a child | ||
| adopted or placed through an intercountry adoption, the department | ||
| shall: | ||
| (1) prepare a report on the welfare and plan for | ||
| permanent placement of the child; and | ||
| (2) provide a copy to the United States Department of | ||
| State. | ||
| (c) This chapter does not prevent the department from taking | ||
| appropriate action under another law of this state. | ||
| Sec. 163.205. PROHIBITED SOLICITING OR ADVERTISING. (a) A | ||
| person may not solicit or advertise to: | ||
| (1) identify a person to which to make a transfer of | ||
| custody in violation of Section 163.203(a); | ||
| (2) identify a child for a transfer of custody in | ||
| violation of Section 163.203(c); or | ||
| (3) act as an intermediary in a transfer of custody in | ||
| violation of Section 163.203(c). | ||
| (b) A person commits an offense if the person violates this | ||
| section. An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor, | ||
| except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the actor | ||
| has been previously convicted of an offense under this section. | ||
| Sec. 163.206. ENFORCEMENT. The department may investigate | ||
| a possible violation of this subchapter and take legal action as | ||
| provided by law of this state. | ||
| SUBCHAPTER D. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS | ||
| Sec. 163.301. UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND CONSTRUCTION. | ||
| In applying and construing this uniform act, a court shall consider | ||
| the promotion of uniformity of the law among jurisdictions that | ||
| enact it. | ||
| Sec. 163.302. RELATION TO ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL | ||
| AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT. This chapter modifies, limits, and | ||
| supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National | ||
| Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq.), but does not modify, | ||
| limit, or supersede Section 101(c) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section | ||
| 7001(c)), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices | ||
| described in Section 103(b) of that Act (15 U.S.C. Section | ||
| 7003(b)). | ||
| SECTION 2. Chapter 163, Family Code, as added by this Act, | ||
| applies only to a transfer of custody or an act of solicitation or | ||
| advertising that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
| A transfer of custody or an act of solicitation or advertising that | ||
| occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law | ||
| in effect on the date the transfer of custody or act of solicitation | ||
| or advertising occurred, and the former law is continued in effect | ||
| for that purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
