73R8504 JMM-D
By Hilderbran, Cuellar of Webb H.B. No. 1192
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to enforcement alternatives for contempt orders for
1-3 certain obligors who are delinquent in child support payments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 14, Family Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Section 14.401 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 14.401. ALTERNATIVE ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS FOR CONTEMPT
1-8 ORDERS. (a) A court finding that an obligor is in contempt of
1-9 court for failure or refusal to make a child support payment may
1-10 order the obligor to participate in adult basic education or
1-11 job-training programs offered by the Central Education Agency, the
1-12 Texas Department of Commerce, or another agency or entity as
1-13 provided by this section.
1-14 (b) The court may order an obligor who has not completed
1-15 high school or earned an equivalent degree to participate in an
1-16 adult basic education program approved by the court. The court may
1-17 approve a program only if the program establishes a time line for
1-18 participation and completion of the program by the obligor and is
1-19 designed to lead to the completion of a high school diploma or
1-20 equivalent degree program for the obligor.
1-21 (c) The court may order an obligor to apply for a program
1-22 approved by the court offered under the Texas Job-Training
1-23 Partnership Act (Article 4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-24 An obligor ordered to apply for a job-training program under this
2-1 subsection shall provide proof to the court that the obligor has
2-2 made a good faith effort to be accepted to and participate fully in
2-3 the program. The court may approve a program only if the program:
2-4 (1) provides on-the-job training;
2-5 (2) trains the obligor for a trade or occupation in
2-6 which employment opportunities exist at the time the obligor is
2-7 ordered to participate in the program; and
2-8 (3) allows the obligor to earn income immediately on
2-9 beginning the program.
2-10 (d) The court may order an obligor to apply for a special
2-11 program for child support obligors administered by the Texas
2-12 Department of Commerce under the Texas Job-Training Partnership Act
2-13 (Article 4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), if a special
2-14 program is established. A participant in the special program must
2-15 be an obligor who has not been found by the court to be delinquent
2-16 in child support payments on a previous occasion and who has a high
2-17 school diploma or the equivalent degree.
2-18 (e) The court may order an obligor to participate in a
2-19 public or private local program that meets the requirements of
2-20 Subsection (b) or (c) of this section, if a program exists in the
2-21 area where the court is located.
2-22 (f) The court has the exclusive right to determine the
2-23 enforcement option, if any, that is appropriate for an obligor
2-24 under this section. In making a determination under this section,
2-25 the court may consult any source that may reasonably assist the
2-26 court in predicting the likelihood of an obligor's success in a
2-27 program.
3-1 (g) An obligor is not eligible to participate in an
3-2 alternative enforcement option under this section on more than one
3-3 occasion.
3-4 SECTION 2. The Texas Job-Training Partnership Act (Article
3-5 4413(52), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding
3-6 Section 12 to read as follows:
3-7 Sec. 12. JOB TRAINING FOR CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGORS. (a) The
3-8 Texas Department of Commerce shall establish a special program to
3-9 be administered under this Act to provide job-training programs for
3-10 persons who are found to be delinquent in court-ordered child
3-11 support payments and ordered to participate in job-training
3-12 programs under Section 14.401, Family Code.
3-13 (b) The department shall solicit funds for the establishment
3-14 of the special program under this section.
3-15 (c) The department shall make a report to the lieutenant
3-16 governor and the speaker of the house of representatives not later
3-17 than December 1, 1994, concerning:
3-18 (1) the department's success in soliciting funds for
3-19 the special program under Subsection (a) of this section; and
3-20 (2) the success of the special program as evaluated by
3-21 the department's evaluator under this Act.
3-22 (d) The department shall allocate positions in on-the-job
3-23 training programs offered under this Act to child support obligors
3-24 who are:
3-25 (1) obligated to support children who are recipients
3-26 of financial assistance and services under Chapter 31, Human
3-27 Resources Code; and
4-1 (2) found to be delinquent in court-ordered child
4-2 support payments and ordered to participate in job-training
4-3 programs under Section 14.401, Family Code.
4-4 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-5 applies only to the enforcement by contempt of a child support
4-6 order that is entered or modified on or after that date.
4-7 (b) The enactment of this Act is not sufficient by itself to
4-8 constitute a material and substantial change in the circumstances
4-9 of a child for whose benefit a child support order has been entered
4-10 to warrant modification of the order under Section 14.08, Family
4-11 Code.
4-12 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.