ATTORNEY GENERALOFTEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

March 2 1,2003 

The Honorable Robert E. “Bobby” Bell 

District Attorney 

Jackson County Courthouse 

115 West Main, Room 205 

Edna, Texas 77957 

Opinion No. GA-0043 

Re: Interpretation of section 160.633 of the 

Texas Family Code (RQ-0612-JC) 

Dear Mr. Bell: 

You ask certain questions concerning section 160.633 of the Family Code, a provision added 

by the Seventy-seventh Legislature as part of House Bill 920, which “is based on the Uniform 

Parentage Act (2000) and sets forth provisions and modifications relating to the parent-child 

relationship.” HOUSE COMM. ON JUVENILE JUSTICE & FAMILY ISSUES, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. H.B. 

920,77th Leg., R.S (2001); Act of May 25,2001,77th Leg., R.S., ch. 82 1, 5 1 .Ol ,200l Tex. Gen. 

Laws 1610, 1624. In particular, you ask that we (i) clarify the meaning of “proceeding” in the 

statute; and determine (ii) whether the final order in the suit may be copied; (iii) whether an order 

denying paternity is public; and, (iv) whether motions that postdate the final order in the suit are 

public. 

Chapter 160, subchapter G of the Family Code, of which section 160.633 forms a part, 

concerns a proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a child. This proceeding is civil in nature, and 

governed by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. 5 160.601 (Vernon 2002). 

Those with standing to maintain the action include the child; the mother of the child; a man whose 

paternity is to be adjudicated; the support enforcement agency; an adoption or child-placing agency; 

a representative of a party with standing who is deceased, incapacitated, or a minor; or, in the event 

the mother is dead, a person related to her within the second degree of consanguinity. Id. 8 160.602. 

The mother of the child and a man whose paternity is to be adjudicated are necessary parties. Id. 

8 160.603. The court adjudicates paternity without a jury. Id. 8 160.632. An order adjudicating 

paternity may be issued on default. Id. 8 160.634. An order dismissing an action for want of 

prosecution may be issued only without prejudice. Id. § 160.635. Otherwise, the court “shall render 

an order adjudicating whether a man alleged or claiming to be the father is the parent of the child.” 

Id. 8 160.636. 
The Honorable Robert E. “Bobby” Bell - Page 2 (GA-0043) 

Your questions concern section 160.633, which reads: 

(a) On the request of a party and for good cause shown, the 

court may order a proceeding under this subchapter closed to the 

public. 

(b) A final order in a proceeding under this subchapter is 

available for public inspection. Other papers and records are 

available only with the consent of the parties or on order of the court 

for good cause. 

Id. fj 160.633. 

You first request clarification of the word “proceeding” in section 160.633(a).’ The statute 

does not define the term “proceeding.” That being the case, the Code Construction Act requires us 

to construe it according to the rules of common usage, TEX. GOV’TCODE ANN. 5 3 11 .Ol 1 (a) (Vernon 

1998), and, to the extent it has a technical meaning, in accordance with that technical meaning, id. 

9 3 11 .Ol 1 (b). As the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has noted, “The term ‘proceeding’ is a very 

broad nomenclature.” Tigner v. State, 928 S.W.2d 540, 543 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996). The Tigner 

court cited Black’s Law Dictionary’s definition of “proceeding” as “all possible steps in an action 

from its commencement to the execution of judgment.” Id.; see also Mellon Serv. Co. v. Touche 

Ross & Co., 946 S.W.2d 862,868 (Tex. App.-Houston [ 14th Dist.] 1997, no writ); Burns v. Bishop, 

48 S.W.3d 459,464 (Tex. App.-Houston [ 14th Dist.] 2001, no pet.). Accordingly, we read section 

160.633(a) to provide that all possible steps in an action may be closed to the public. Moreover, 

pursuant to section 160.633(b), save for the final order, “Other papers and records are available only 

with the consent of the parties or on order of the court for good cause.” TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. 9 

160.633(b) (Vernon 2002). 

You next ask whether the final order is “one that copies may legally be made from for anyone 

who requests such.” Request Letter, supra note 1, at 1. The final order is available to the public 

under section 160.633(b). Generally speaking, records that are available to the public maybe copied. 

See, e.g., TEX. LOC. GOV’TCODEANN. 5 118.065 (Vernon 1999) (right ofpersons to “read, examine, 

and copy” county court records); TEX. R. JUD. ADMIN. 12 (judicial records open to general public 

for inspection and copying). Accordingly, the final order may be copied by the public. 

Your next question is whether “the order denying paternity [is] open to the public.” Request 

Letter, supra note 1, at 1. We presume that by “an order denying paternity” you mean an order 

determining that a man alleged or claiming to be the parent of the child is not. As we have 

determined, the statute makes final orders open. It draws no distinction between a final order 

holding that a person is the child’s father and a final order holding that a person is not. 

‘Letter fromHonorable Robert E. “Bobby” Bell, District Attorney, Jackson County, to Honorable John Comyn, 

Texas Attorney General at 1 (Sept. 17,2002) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 
The Honorable Robert E. “Bobby” Bell - Page 3 (GA-0043) 

You ask finally whether “motions, etc., filed after the final order” are open. Id. Nothing 

save the final order is open except “with the consent of the parties or on order of the court for good 

cause.” TEX.FAM.CODEANN.§ 160.633(b)(V emon 2002). The statutory language has no temporal 

limit. Accordingly, save with the parties’ consent or by court order, any and all papers and records 

of the proceeding that have been closed under section 160.633(a) except for the final order are 

permanently closed. 
The Honorable Robert E. “Bobby” Bell - Page 4 (GA-0043) 

SUMMARY 

The word “proceeding” for the purposes of a suit to adjudicate 

the paternity of a child includes all possible steps in the action. The 

final order in such a suit is open for inspection and copying, whatever 

the nature of the judgment. Save with the consent of the parties or by 

court order, any and all other records of the proceeding are 

permanently closed. 

Very truly yours, 

Attomey,General of Texas 

- __- 

BARRY R. MCBEE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DON R. WILLETT 

Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

James E. Tourtelott 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee