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