Bill Text: TX HB906 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to appointments made in and the appeal of certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2011-05-19 - Effective on 9/1/11 [HB906 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB906-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 906

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 for the
duration of the suit and any subsequent appeal 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. Section 107.016, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 107.016. CONTINUED REPRESENTATION; DURATION OF
APPOINTMENT. In a suit filed by a governmental entity in which
termination of the parent-child relationship or appointment of the
entity as conservator of the child is requested:
(1) [,] an order appointing the Department of Family
and Protective [and Regulatory] Services as the child's managing
conservator may provide for the continuation of the appointment of
the guardian ad litem or attorney ad litem for the child for any
period set by the court; and
(2) an attorney appointed under this subchapter to
serve as an attorney ad litem for a parent or an alleged father
continues to serve in that capacity until the earliest of:
(A) the date the suit affecting the parent-child
relationship is dismissed;
(B) the date all appeals in relation to any final
order terminating parental rights are exhausted or waived; or
(C) the date the attorney is relieved of the
attorney's duties or 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. Section 107.013(e), Family Code, as added by
this Act, and Section 107.016, Family Code, as amended 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 906 was passed by the House on March
30, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 906 on May 5, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 906 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on April 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor