bill adds a two-year limit to protective orders

The text as introduced · 645 words

89R2675 AMF-D

By: Dutton
H.B. No. 2496

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to required findings for the issuance of a protective

order based on the commission of family violence.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 81.001, Family Code, is amended to read

as follows:

Sec. 81.001. ENTITLEMENT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. A court

shall render a protective order as provided by Section 85.001(b) if

the court finds that family violence has occurred during the

two-year period preceding the filing of the application for the

protective order .

SECTION 2. Section 81.0015, Family Code, is amended to read

as follows:

Sec. 81.0015. PRESUMPTION. For purposes of this subtitle,

there is a presumption that family violence has occurred during the

two-year period preceding the filing of the application for the

protective order if:

(1) the respondent has been convicted of or placed on

deferred adjudication community supervision for any of the

following offenses against the child for whom the petition is filed

committed during that period :

(A) an offense under Title 5, Penal Code, for

which the court has made an affirmative finding that the offense

involved family violence under Article 42.013, Code of Criminal

Procedure; or

(B) an offense under Title 6, Penal Code; and

(2) the respondent's parental rights with respect to

the child have been terminated based on acts occurring during that

period .

SECTION 3. Sections 85.001(a) and (b), Family Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) At the close of a hearing on an application for a

protective order, the court shall find whether family violence has

occurred during the two-year period preceding the filing of the

application for the protective order .

(b) If the court finds that family violence has occurred

during the two-year period preceding the filing of the application

for the protective order , the court:

(1) shall render a protective order as provided by

Section 85.022 applying only to a person found to have committed

family violence; and

(2) may render a protective order as provided by

Section 85.021 applying to both parties that is in the best interest

of the person protected by the order or member of the family or

household of the person protected by the order.

SECTION 4. Section 85.025(a-1), Family Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(a-1) The court may render a protective order sufficient to

protect the applicant and members of the applicant's family or

household that is effective for a period that exceeds two years if

the court finds that the person who is the subject of the protective

order:

(1) committed an act constituting a felony offense

involving family violence against the applicant or a member of the

applicant's family or household during the two-year period

preceding the filing of the application for the protective order ,

regardless of whether the person has been charged with or convicted

of the offense;

(2) caused serious bodily injury to the applicant or a

member of the applicant's family or household; or

(3) was the subject of two or more previous protective

orders rendered:

(A) to protect the person on whose behalf the

current protective order is sought; and

(B) after a finding by the court that the subject

of the protective order has committed family violence during the

two-year period preceding the filing of the application for the

protective order .

SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

an application for a protective order filed on or after the

effective date of this Act. An application for a protective order

filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law

in effect on the date the application is filed, and the former law

is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.