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.