Texas Legislators Update and Toughen Protective Order and Family Violence Laws September 1, 2015 marked the beginning of some significant changes to Texas laws, including the Family Code, Penal Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure. In practice, this means crimes committed after this date will be prosecuted by these new sets of laws (while crimes committed before September 1 will still be prosecuted using the old laws). There are a number of important changes dealing with protective orders and family violence that you should be aware of. Definition of “Applicant” for Protective Orders Expanded First, Senate Bill 817 makes changes to protective order applications, and makes it clear that trafficking activities amount to family violence. Previously, the “victim” was named