By Reyna, et al. H.B. No. 1085
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of counties to contract with private
1-3 entities for the collection of child support and to electronic
1-4 transfer of the support payments.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 10, Human Resources Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Chapter 153 to read as follows:
1-8 CHAPTER 153. CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION BY PRIVATE ENTITY
1-9 Sec. 153.001. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. A county, acting
1-10 through its commissioners court, may contract with a private entity
1-11 to:
1-12 (1) enforce, collect, receive, and disburse:
1-13 (A) child support payments;
1-14 (B) other amounts due under a court order
1-15 containing an order to pay child support; and
1-16 (C) fees, including those provided by this
1-17 chapter;
1-18 (2) maintain appropriate records, including records of
1-19 child support and other amounts and fees that are due, past due,
1-20 paid, or delinquent;
1-21 (3) locate absent parents;
1-22 (4) furnish statements to parents accounting for
1-23 payments that are due, paid, or delinquent;
1-24 (5) send billings and other appropriate notices to
2-1 parents;
2-2 (6) perform any duty or function that a local
2-3 registry, as that term is defined by Section 11.01, Family Code, is
2-4 authorized to perform; or
2-5 (7) provide another child support enforcement service
2-6 authorized by the commissioners court.
2-7 Sec. 153.002. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT. The
2-8 commissioners court shall include all appropriate terms and
2-9 conditions in the contract that it determines are reasonable to
2-10 secure the services of a private entity as provided by this
2-11 chapter, including:
2-12 (1) provisions specifying the services to be provided
2-13 by the entity;
2-14 (2) the method, conditions, and amount of compensation
2-15 for the entity;
2-16 (3) provisions for the security of funds collected as
2-17 child support, fees, or other amounts under the contract or that
2-18 otherwise provide reasonable assurance to the county of the
2-19 entity's full and faithful performance of the contract;
2-20 (4) provisions specifying the records to be kept by
2-21 the entity, including any records necessary to fully account for
2-22 all funds received and disbursed as child support, fees, or other
2-23 amounts;
2-24 (5) requirements governing the inspection,
2-25 verification, audit, or explanation of the entity's accounting or
2-26 other records;
2-27 (6) provisions for the disclosure or nondisclosure of
3-1 information or records maintained or known to the entity as a
3-2 result of contract performance; and
3-3 (7) provisions for the option of a payee to waive the
3-4 monitoring procedure by written request.
3-5 Sec. 153.003. FUNDING. (a) To provide or recover the costs
3-6 of providing services authorized by this chapter, a commissioners
3-7 court may:
3-8 (1) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-9 of a reasonable fee at the time a party files a suit for
3-10 dissolution of a marriage that includes a suit affecting the
3-11 parent-child relationship under the Family Code;
3-12 (2) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-13 of a reasonable fee not to exceed $10 per month at a time specified
3-14 for payment of child support;
3-15 (3) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-16 of a reasonable late payment fee to be imposed if an obligor does
3-17 not make a payment of child support in full when due;
3-18 (4) accept or receive funds from public grants or
3-19 private sources available for providing services authorized by this
3-20 chapter; or
3-21 (5) use any combination of the funding sources
3-22 specified by this subsection.
3-23 (b) The commissioners court may not charge a fee under
3-24 Subsection (a)(1) if the person to be charged has already been
3-25 charged a fee under Section 151.008(a)(1).
3-26 (c) The commissioners court may:
3-27 (1) provide by order for reasonable exemptions from
4-1 the collection of the fees authorized by Subsection (a); and
4-2 (2) require payment of a fee authorized by Subsection
4-3 (a)(2) annually and in advance.
4-4 (d) The fees established under Subsection (a) may be
4-5 collected by any means provided for the collection of child
4-6 support. The commissioners court may provide by order for the
4-7 manner of collecting the fees and the apportionment of payments
4-8 received to meet fee obligations.
4-9 Sec. 153.004. CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CHAPTER. A power or duty
4-10 conferred on a county, county official, or county instrumentality
4-11 by this chapter is cumulative of the powers and duties created or
4-12 conferred by other law, except that county action under this
4-13 chapter precludes the exercise or performance of a power or duty
4-14 created or conferred by other law as expressly provided by order of
4-15 a commissioners court.
4-16 SECTION 2. Section 14.0502(b), Family Code, is amended to
4-17 read as follows:
4-18 (b) A local registry may transmit child support payments to
4-19 the attorney general by electronic funds transfer if the attorney
4-20 general agrees to accept electronic payment. An obligor may make
4-21 payments, with the approval of the judge, directly to the bank
4-22 account of the obligee by electronic transfer and provide
4-23 verification of the deposit to the local registry.
4-24 SECTION 3. Section 154.242(b), Family Code, as added by H.B.
4-25 No. 655, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is
4-26 amended to read as follows:
4-27 (b) A local registry may transmit child support payments to
5-1 the Title IV-D agency by electronic funds transfer if the Title
5-2 IV-D agency agrees to accept electronic payment. A local registry
5-3 in a county that makes deposits into personal bank accounts by
5-4 electronic funds transfer as of April 1, 1995, shall transmit a
5-5 child support payment to an obligee by electronic funds transfer if
5-6 the obligee maintains a bank account.
5-7 SECTION 4. Section 151.0036(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
5-8 as follows:
5-9 (b) "Debt collection service" does not include:
5-10 (1) the collection of a judgment by an attorney or by
5-11 a partnership or professional corporation of attorneys if the
5-12 attorney, partnership, or corporation represented the person in the
5-13 suit from which the judgment arose; or
5-14 (2) the collection of court-ordered child support by a
5-15 private entity authorized to collect child support under Chapter
5-16 153, Human Resources Code.
5-17 SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act does not
5-18 prevent a county from acting under a provision of Chapter 152,
5-19 Human Resources Code, to enforce, collect, receive, or disburse
5-20 child support or another amount due under a court order containing
5-21 an order to pay child support.
5-22 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-23 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
5-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.