S.B. No. 817
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the issuance of a protective order and the appointment
  of a managing conservator in certain family law proceedings.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 71.0021(a), Family Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  "Dating violence" means an act, other than a defensive
  measure to protect oneself, by an actor that:
               (1)  is committed against a victim or applicant for a
  protective order:
                     (A)  with whom the actor has or has had a dating
  relationship; or
                     (B)  because of the victim's or applicant's
  marriage to or dating relationship with an individual with whom the
  actor is or has been in a dating relationship or marriage; and
               (2)  is intended to result in physical harm, bodily
  injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that
  reasonably places the victim or applicant in fear of imminent
  physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault.
         SECTION 2.  Section 71.004, Family Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 71.004.  FAMILY VIOLENCE. "Family violence" means:
               (1)  an act by a member of a family or household against
  another member of the family or household that is intended to result
  in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that
  is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent
  physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does
  not include defensive measures to protect oneself;
               (2)  abuse, as that term is defined by Sections
  261.001(1)(C), (E), [and] (G), (H), (I), (J), and (K), by a member
  of a family or household toward a child of the family or household;
  or
               (3)  dating violence, as that term is defined by
  Section 71.0021.
         SECTION 3.  Section 153.005, Family Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  In a suit, except as provided by Section 153.004, the
  court:
               (1)  may appoint a sole managing conservator or may
  appoint joint managing conservators; and
               (2)  if[. If] the parents are or will be separated,
  [the court] shall appoint at least one managing conservator.
         (c)  In making an appointment authorized by this section, the
  court shall consider whether, preceding the filing of the suit or
  during the pendency of the suit:
               (1)  a party engaged in a history or pattern of family
  violence, as defined by Section 71.004;
               (2)  a party engaged in a history or pattern of child
  abuse or child neglect; or 
               (3)  a final protective order was rendered against a
  party.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
  71.0021 and 71.004, Family Code, apply only to a request for a
  protective order that is filed on or after the effective date of
  this Act. A request for a protective order filed before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the request is filed, and the former law is continued in effect
  for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  Section 153.005, Family Code, as amended by this
  Act, applies only to a suit affecting the parent-child relationship
  filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit affecting
  the parent-child relationship filed before the effective date of
  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the suit is
  filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 817 passed the Senate on
  April 21, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 817 passed the House on
  May 12, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0,
  two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor