HBA-LCA H.B. 2786 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2786
By: Dunnam
Juvenile Justice & Family Issues
3/28/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, appellate courts do not have the jurisdiction to review and
consider appeals of protective orders issued under the Family Code.  Under
recent case law, a protective order is not a final order, and does not fall
within the parameters for interlocutory review.  Therefore, a person
against whom a protective order is granted has no right of appeal except by
application for writ of mandamus, which limits the complaining party's
right of review to an assertion that a court has abused its discretion. 

H.B.  2786 creates a new chapter in the Family Code that allows for the
appeal of a protective order, other than a temporary ex parte order, in an
appellate court.  This bill requires the appellate court to notify the
court of issuance immediately upon filing of the appeal, and requires that
an appeal under Chapter 89, Family Code (Right to Appeal) be given
preference over other appeals for consideration.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 85.026, Family Code, by adding Subsection (d),
to require a protective order other than a temporary ex parte order to
contain a statement containing specified information on an appeal of the
order.  Specifies that the placement of the statement within the order must
be prominent and emphasized. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Subtitle B, Title 4, Family Code, by adding Chapter 89,
as follows: 

CHAPTER 89.  APPEAL

Sec. 89.001.  RIGHT TO APPEAL.  (a)  Requires an appeal from an order
rendered under this subtitle, except for a temporary ex parte order, to be
filed in a court of appeals for the county in which the order was rendered. 

(b)  Provides that notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the
protective order was signed. 

Sec. 89.002.  TRANSCRIPTS.  Requires the clerk of the court in which a
protective order was rendered to send immediately a certified copy of the
transcripts in the case to the court of appeals upon notice of the filing
of an appeal. 

Sec. 89.003.  PREFERENTIAL SETTING.  Requires the court of appeals and the
supreme court to give an appeal under this chapter preference, and to
advance the appeal on the court's docket.  Provides that the court may
suspend any rule relating to the time for filing a brief or docketing a
case. 

Sec. 89.004.  ORDER PENDING APPEAL.  Provides that the appeal of an order
under this subtitle does not affect the validity of an order or affect the
jurisdiction of the court that rendered the order to expand, vacate, or
otherwise modify the order. 
 
SECTION 3.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
            Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.