Bill Text: TX SB1026 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the powers and duties of an attorney ad litem appointed for a parent or an alleged father in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/11 [SB1026 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB1026-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1026 |
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relating to the powers and duties of an attorney ad litem appointed | ||
for a parent or an alleged father in certain suits affecting the | ||
parent-child relationship. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Part 1, Subchapter B, Chapter 107, Family Code, | ||
is amended by adding Sections 107.0131, 107.0132, and 107.0133 to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 107.0131. POWERS AND DUTIES OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM FOR | ||
PARENT. (a) An attorney ad litem appointed under Section 107.013 | ||
to represent the interests of a parent: | ||
(1) shall: | ||
(A) subject to Rules 4.02, 4.03, and 4.04, Texas | ||
Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and within a reasonable | ||
time after the appointment, interview: | ||
(i) the parent, unless the parent's | ||
location is unknown; | ||
(ii) each person who has significant | ||
knowledge of the case; and | ||
(iii) the parties to the suit; | ||
(B) investigate the facts of the case; | ||
(C) to ensure competent representation at | ||
hearings, mediations, pretrial matters, and the trial on the | ||
merits: | ||
(i) obtain and review copies of all court | ||
files in the suit during the attorney ad litem's course of | ||
representation; and | ||
(ii) when necessary, conduct formal | ||
discovery under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the discovery | ||
control plan; | ||
(D) take any action consistent with the parent's | ||
interests that the attorney ad litem considers necessary to | ||
expedite the proceedings; | ||
(E) encourage settlement and the use of | ||
alternative forms of dispute resolution; | ||
(F) review and sign, or decline to sign, a | ||
proposed or agreed order affecting the parent; | ||
(G) meet before each court hearing with the | ||
parent, unless the court: | ||
(i) finds at that hearing that the attorney | ||
ad litem has shown good cause why the attorney ad litem's compliance | ||
is not feasible; or | ||
(ii) on a showing of good cause, authorizes | ||
the attorney ad litem to comply by conferring with the parent, as | ||
appropriate, by telephone or video conference; | ||
(H) become familiar with the American Bar | ||
Association's standards of practice for attorneys who represent | ||
parents in abuse and neglect cases; | ||
(I) complete at least three hours of continuing | ||
legal education relating to child protection law as described by | ||
Subsection (b) as soon as practicable after the attorney ad litem is | ||
appointed, unless the court finds that the attorney ad litem has | ||
experience equivalent to that education; and | ||
(J) abide by the parent's objectives of | ||
representation; | ||
(2) must be trained in child protection law or have | ||
experience determined by the court to be equivalent to that | ||
training; and | ||
(3) is entitled to: | ||
(A) request clarification from the court if the | ||
role of the attorney ad litem is ambiguous; | ||
(B) request a hearing or trial on the merits; | ||
(C) consent or refuse to consent to an interview | ||
of the parent by another attorney; | ||
(D) receive a copy of each pleading or other | ||
paper filed with the court; | ||
(E) receive notice of each hearing in the suit; | ||
(F) participate in any case staffing conducted by | ||
the Department of Family and Protective Services in which the | ||
parent is invited to participate, including, as appropriate, a case | ||
staffing to develop a family plan of service, a family group | ||
conference, a permanency conference, a mediation, a case staffing | ||
to plan for the discharge and return of the child to the parent, and | ||
any other case staffing that the department determines would be | ||
appropriate for the parent to attend, but excluding any internal | ||
department staffing or staffing between the department and the | ||
department's legal representative; and | ||
(G) attend all legal proceedings in the suit. | ||
(b) The continuing legal education required by Subsection | ||
(a)(1)(I) must: | ||
(1) be low-cost and available to persons throughout | ||
this state, including on the Internet provided through the State | ||
Bar of Texas; and | ||
(2) focus on the duties of an attorney ad litem in, and | ||
the procedures of and best practices for, a proceeding under | ||
Chapter 262 or 263. | ||
Sec. 107.0132. POWERS AND DUTIES OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM FOR | ||
ALLEGED FATHER. (a) An attorney ad litem appointed under Section | ||
107.013 to represent the interests of an alleged father shall: | ||
(1) conduct an investigation regarding the | ||
petitioner's due diligence in locating the alleged father, | ||
including by verifying that the petitioner has obtained a | ||
certificate of the results of a search of the paternity registry | ||
under Chapter 160; | ||
(2) interview any party or other person who has | ||
significant knowledge of the case who may have information relating | ||
to the identity or location of the alleged father; and | ||
(3) conduct an independent investigation to identify | ||
or locate the alleged father, as applicable. | ||
(b) If the attorney ad litem identifies and locates the | ||
alleged father, the attorney ad litem shall: | ||
(1) provide to each party and the court the alleged | ||
father's name and address and any other locating information; and | ||
(2) if appropriate, request the court's approval for | ||
the attorney ad litem to assist the alleged father in establishing | ||
paternity. | ||
(c) If the alleged father is adjudicated to be a parent of | ||
the child and is determined by the court to be indigent, the court | ||
may appoint the attorney ad litem to continue to represent the | ||
father's interests as a parent under Section 107.013(a)(1) or (c). | ||
(d) If the attorney ad litem is unable to identify or locate | ||
the alleged father, the attorney ad litem shall submit to the court | ||
a written summary of the attorney ad litem's efforts to identify or | ||
locate the alleged father with a statement that the attorney ad | ||
litem was unable to identify or locate the alleged father. | ||
Sec. 107.0133. DISCIPLINE OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM FOR PARENT | ||
OR ALLEGED FATHER. An attorney ad litem appointed for a parent or | ||
an alleged father who fails to perform the duties required by | ||
Section 107.0131 or 107.0132, as applicable, is subject to | ||
disciplinary action under Subchapter E, Chapter 81, Government | ||
Code. | ||
SECTION 2. Sections 107.0131, 107.0132, and 107.0133, | ||
Family Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an attorney ad | ||
litem in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship appointed | ||
on or after the effective date of this Act. An attorney ad litem | ||
appointed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the | ||
date the attorney ad litem was appointed, and the former law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1026 passed the Senate on | ||
April 21, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 25, 2011, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1026 passed the House, with | ||
amendment, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 142, | ||
Nays 0, one present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |