1-1 By: Morrison (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 3423
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 30, 1999;
1-3 May 3, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
1-4 Services; May 12, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the emergency possession of and termination of the
1-9 parent-child relationship of certain abandoned children.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 161.001, Family Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 Sec. 161.001. INVOLUNTARY TERMINATION OF PARENT-CHILD
1-14 RELATIONSHIP. The court may order termination of the parent-child
1-15 relationship if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
1-16 (1) that the parent has:
1-17 (A) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-18 possession of another not the parent and expressed an intent not to
1-19 return;
1-20 (B) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-21 possession of another not the parent without expressing an intent
1-22 to return, without providing for the adequate support of the child,
1-23 and remained away for a period of at least three months;
1-24 (C) voluntarily left the child alone or in the
1-25 possession of another without providing adequate support of the
1-26 child and remained away for a period of at least six months;
1-27 (D) knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the
1-28 child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the
1-29 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-30 (E) engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the
1-31 child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the
1-32 physical or emotional well-being of the child;
1-33 (F) failed to support the child in accordance
1-34 with the parent's ability during a period of one year ending within
1-35 six months of the date of the filing of the petition;
1-36 (G) abandoned the child without identifying the
1-37 child or furnishing means of identification, and the child's
1-38 identity cannot be ascertained by the exercise of reasonable
1-39 diligence;
1-40 (H) voluntarily, and with knowledge of the
1-41 pregnancy, abandoned the mother of the child beginning at a time
1-42 during her pregnancy with the child and continuing through the
1-43 birth, failed to provide adequate support or medical care for the
1-44 mother during the period of abandonment before the birth of the
1-45 child, and remained apart from the child or failed to support the
1-46 child since the birth;
1-47 (I) contumaciously refused to submit to a
1-48 reasonable and lawful order of a court under Chapter 264;
1-49 (J) been the major cause of:
1-50 (i) the failure of the child to be
1-51 enrolled in school as required by the Education Code; or
1-52 (ii) the child's absence from the child's
1-53 home without the consent of the parents or guardian for a
1-54 substantial length of time or without the intent to return;
1-55 (K) executed before or after the suit is filed
1-56 an unrevoked or irrevocable affidavit of relinquishment of parental
1-57 rights as provided by this chapter;
1-58 (L) been convicted or has been placed on
1-59 community supervision, including deferred adjudication community
1-60 supervision, for being criminally responsible for the death or
1-61 serious injury of a child under the following sections of the Penal
1-62 Code or adjudicated under Title 3 for conduct that caused the death
1-63 or serious injury of a child and that would constitute a violation
1-64 of one of the following Penal Code sections:
2-1 (i) Section 19.02 (murder);
2-2 (ii) Section 19.03 (capital murder);
2-3 (iii) Section 21.11 (indecency with a
2-4 child);
2-5 (iv) Section 22.01 (assault);
2-6 (v) Section 22.011 (sexual assault);
2-7 (vi) Section 22.02 (aggravated assault);
2-8 (vii) Section 22.021 (aggravated sexual
2-9 assault);
2-10 (viii) Section 22.04 (injury to a child,
2-11 elderly individual, or disabled individual);
2-12 (ix) Section 22.041 (abandoning or
2-13 endangering child);
2-14 (x) Section 25.02 (prohibited sexual
2-15 conduct);
2-16 (xi) Section 43.25 (sexual performance by
2-17 a child); and
2-18 (xii) Section 43.26 (possession or
2-19 promotion of child pornography);
2-20 (M) had his or her parent-child relationship
2-21 terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that
2-22 the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or
2-23 substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state;
2-24 (N) constructively abandoned the child who has
2-25 been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the
2-26 Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or an authorized
2-27 agency for not less than six months, and:
2-28 (i) the department or authorized agency
2-29 has made reasonable efforts to return the child to the parent;
2-30 (ii) the parent has not regularly visited
2-31 or maintained significant contact with the child; and
2-32 (iii) the parent has demonstrated an
2-33 inability to provide the child with a safe environment;
2-34 (O) failed to comply with the provisions of a
2-35 court order that specifically established the actions necessary for
2-36 the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the
2-37 permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department
2-38 of Protective and Regulatory Services for not less than nine months
2-39 as a result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter
2-40 262 for the abuse or neglect of the child;
2-41 (P) used a controlled substance, as defined by
2-42 Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code:
2-43 (i) in a manner that endangered the health
2-44 or safety of the child, and failed to complete a court-ordered
2-45 substance abuse treatment program; or
2-46 (ii) repeatedly, after completion of a
2-47 court-ordered substance treatment program, in a manner that
2-48 endangered the health or safety of the child;
2-49 (Q) knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that
2-50 results in the parent's imprisonment and inability to care for the
2-51 child for not less than two years from the date of filing the
2-52 petition; [or]
2-53 (R) been the cause of the child being born
2-54 addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance, other than a
2-55 controlled substance legally obtained by prescription, as defined
2-56 by Section 261.001; or
2-57 (S) voluntarily delivered the child to an
2-58 emergency medical services provider under Section 262.301 without
2-59 expressing an intent to return for the child [261.001(7)]; and
2-60 (2) that termination is in the best interest of the
2-61 child.
2-62 SECTION 2. Chapter 262, Family Code, is amended by adding
2-63 Subchapter D to read as follows:
2-64 SUBCHAPTER D. EMERGENCY POSSESSION OF
2-65 CERTAIN ABANDONED CHILDREN
2-66 Sec. 262.301. ACCEPTING POSSESSION OF CERTAIN ABANDONED
2-67 CHILDREN. (a) An emergency medical services provider licensed
2-68 under Chapter 773, Health and Safety Code, shall, without a court
2-69 order, take possession of a child who is 30 days old or younger if
3-1 the child is voluntarily delivered to the provider by the child's
3-2 parent and the parent did not express an intent to return for the
3-3 child.
3-4 (b) An emergency medical services provider who takes
3-5 possession of a child under this section shall perform any act
3-6 necessary to protect the physical health or safety of the child.
3-7 Sec. 262.302. NOTIFICATION OF POSSESSION OF ABANDONED CHILD.
3-8 (a) Not later than the close of the first business day after the
3-9 date on which an emergency medical services provider takes
3-10 possession of a child under Section 262.301, the provider shall
3-11 notify the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services that
3-12 the provider has taken possession of the child.
3-13 (b) The department shall assume the care, control, and
3-14 custody of the child immediately on receipt of notice under
3-15 Subsection (a).
3-16 Sec. 262.303. FILING PETITION AFTER ACCEPTING POSSESSION OF
3-17 ABANDONED CHILD. A child for whom the Department of Protective and
3-18 Regulatory Services assumes care, control, and custody under
3-19 Section 262.302 shall be treated as a child taken into possession
3-20 without a court order, and the department shall take action as
3-21 required by Section 262.105 with regard to the child.
3-22 SECTION 3. Section 22.041, Penal Code, is amended by adding
3-23 Subsection (h) to read as follows:
3-24 (h) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
3-25 Subsection (b) that the actor voluntarily delivered the child to an
3-26 emergency medical services provider under Section 262.301, Family
3-27 Code.
3-28 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by Section 161.001,
3-29 Family Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a suit for
3-30 termination of the parent-child relationship filed on or after the
3-31 effective date of this Act.
3-32 (b) A suit for termination of the parent-child relationship
3-33 filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
3-34 in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is
3-35 continued in effect for that purpose.
3-36 SECTION 5. (a) The change in law made by Section 22.041(h),
3-37 Penal Code, as added by this Act, applies only to an offense that
3-38 is committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
3-39 purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
3-40 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
3-41 before that date.
3-42 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-43 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-44 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-45 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-46 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-47 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-48 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-49 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-50 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-51 * * * * *