S.B. No. 277
AN ACT
1-1 relating to reporting a finding of paternity to the State Registrar
1-2 of Vital Statistics.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 192.003, Health and Safety Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:
1-6 (d) On the birth of a child, the hospital, physician,
1-7 midwife, or person acting as a midwife in attendance or their
1-8 designee at a birth may:
1-9 (1) provide an opportunity for the child's mother and
1-10 biological father to sign a form prescribed by the department in
1-11 which the biological father consents to be named as the child's
1-12 father on the child's birth certificate; and
1-13 (2) provide written information, including an
1-14 application for child support services, furnished by the attorney
1-15 general, to the mother regarding the benefits of having her child's
1-16 paternity established and of the availability of paternity
1-17 establishment services.
1-18 (e) The local registrar shall transmit signed consent forms
1-19 to the state registrar.
1-20 (f) The state registrar shall transmit signed consent forms
1-21 to the attorney general who may use such forms for any purpose
1-22 directly connected with the provision of child support services
1-23 pursuant to Chapter 76, Human Resources Code.
1-24 SECTION 2. Section 192.005, Health and Safety Code, is
2-1 amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
2-2 (d) If the items relating to the child's father are not
2-3 completed on a birth certificate filed with the state registrar,
2-4 the state registrar shall notify the attorney general.
2-5 SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 192, Health and Safety
2-6 Code, is amended by adding Section 192.0051 to read as follows:
2-7 Sec. 192.0051. CERTIFICATE OF PATERNITY. (a) A declaration
2-8 of each determination of paternity in this state shall be filed
2-9 with the state registrar.
2-10 (b) On a determination of paternity, the petitioner shall
2-11 provide the clerk of the court in which the decree was granted with
2-12 the information necessary to prepare the declaration. The clerk
2-13 shall:
2-14 (1) prepare the declaration on a form provided by the
2-15 department; and
2-16 (2) complete the declaration immediately after the
2-17 decree becomes final.
2-18 (c) Not later than the 10th day of each month, the clerk of
2-19 the court shall forward to the state registrar a declaration for
2-20 each decree that became final in that court during the preceding
2-21 month.
2-22 SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 13, Family Code, is amended
2-23 by adding Section 13.015 to read as follows:
2-24 Sec. 13.015. ASSISTANCE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL. On
2-25 notification by the state registrar under Section 192.005(d),
2-26 Health and Safety Code, that the items relating to the child's
2-27 father are not completed on a birth certificate filed with the
3-1 state registrar, the attorney general may provide to:
3-2 (1) the child's mother and, if possible, the man
3-3 claiming to be the child's biological father written information
3-4 necessary for the man to complete a statement of paternity as
3-5 provided by Section 13.22 of this code; and
3-6 (2) the child's mother written information:
3-7 (A) explaining the benefits of having the
3-8 child's paternity established; and
3-9 (B) regarding the availability of paternity
3-10 establishment and child support enforcement services.
3-11 SECTION 5. Section 13.22, Family Code, is amended by adding
3-12 Subsection (f) to read as follows:
3-13 (f) The statement must include the social security number of
3-14 the father.
3-15 SECTION 6. Section 13.43, Family Code, is amended to read as
3-16 follows:
3-17 Sec. 13.43. BIRTH CERTIFICATE. (a) A declaration of each
3-18 determination of paternity decreed in this state shall be filed
3-19 with the state registrar.
3-20 (b) On a determination of paternity, the petitioner shall
3-21 provide the clerk of the court in which the decree was granted with
3-22 the information necessary to prepare the declaration. The clerk
3-23 shall:
3-24 (1) prepare the declaration on a form provided by the
3-25 Texas Department of Health; and
3-26 (2) complete the declaration immediately after the
3-27 decree becomes final.
4-1 (c) Not later than the 10th day of each month, the clerk of
4-2 the court shall forward to the state registrar a declaration for
4-3 each decree that became final in that court during the preceding
4-4 month <On a determination of paternity, the clerk of the court,
4-5 unless directed otherwise by the court, shall transmit a copy of
4-6 the decree to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics>.
4-7 (d) The decree shall state the name of the child.
4-8 (e) The state registrar shall substitute for the original a
4-9 new birth certificate based on the decree in accordance with the
4-10 provisions of the laws which permit the correction or substitution
4-11 of birth certificates for adopted children or children presumed to
4-12 be the biological children by the subsequent marriage of their
4-13 parents and in accordance with the rules adopted <and regulations
4-14 promulgated> by the Texas Board <State Department> of Health.
4-15 (f) The new certificate may not show that the father and
4-16 child relationship was established after the child's birth but may
4-17 show the actual place and date of birth.
4-18 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-19 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.