HB2340

HB2340 adds a qualification for child-custody evaluators: at least three hours of initial or continuing training during the two years before the evaluation, related to caring for a child with an intellectual or developmental disability. Topics may include education, therapy, preparation for independent living or addressing physical or mental health challenges. The qualification is not written as applying only when the child being evaluated has a disability. The law adopts the existing Health and Safety Code definitions of those disabilities rather than covering every diagnosis automatically. Final law, Sections 1–2; developmental-disability definition; intellectual-disability definition.

If the report concerns a child with one of those disabilities and the evaluator had not met the training requirement on the date of the evaluation, the court may not admit the report into evidence. An existing exception remains for evaluators appointed under Family Code 107.106: in specified counties, a court may appoint an otherwise-qualified person when a person meeting the usual qualifications is not available locally in time, after notice and hearing or agreement of the parties. Both the new training requirement and the new evidence restriction apply only when the evaluator was appointed by a court on or after January 1, 2026. Earlier appointments remain under former law. Final law, Sections 4–5; limited appointment exception.

The act also aligns access to evaluation records with the existing report procedure: after completing the evaluation, the evaluator files a notice that the report is complete, not the report itself as the trigger. On a written request, records must be made available to a party’s lawyer, an unrepresented party or a person appointed under the relevant chapter in the case, subject to court disclosure restrictions and applicable domestic-relations-office rules. The law preserves the exception for child-protection investigative records and adds an express exception for confidential records obtained from other government entities under Section 107.1111. It requires social security numbers and children’s birth dates to be redacted before disclosure. This is not public access to everyone’s custody file. Final law, Section 3; report-completion notice; protected government records.

For private evaluators, the licensing authority’s retention period is measured from filing that notice; the act does not set a single statewide number of retention years. The disclosure and redaction changes apply to disclosures on or after September 1, 2025. The retention change applies to all records the evaluator possesses on or after that date, including older records. Existing protections for audiovisual child interviews and the ability to charge a reasonable copying fee are not repealed. Final law, Sections 3 and 6–8; recordkeeping rules; official history.