By Nelson S.B. No. 64
74R709 JMM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the requirement that certain persons delinquent in the
1-3 payment of child support participate in a community work experience
1-4 program.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 14, Family Code, is amended
1-7 by adding Section 14.401 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 14.401. MANDATORY PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY WORK
1-9 EXPERIENCE PROGRAM. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a
1-10 court shall order that an obligor found in contempt of court for
1-11 failure or refusal to make a child support payment must participate
1-12 in a community work experience program authorized under Section
1-13 76.012, Human Resources Code, if:
1-14 (1) the child support payment is overdue at the time
1-15 the enforcement proceeding is filed and unpaid at the time of the
1-16 order; and
1-17 (2) a community work experience program contracted for
1-18 or approved by the attorney general is established in the county in
1-19 which the obligor resides.
1-20 (b) The order shall include:
1-21 (1) requirements that the obligor must meet in
1-22 participating in the program;
1-23 (2) the name, address, and telephone number of the
1-24 individual or agency the obligor must contact to initiate
2-1 participation in the program;
2-2 (3) the manner in which the obligor must provide proof
2-3 of participation in and completion of a program to the court; and
2-4 (4) other information necessary for the obligor to
2-5 comply with the order.
2-6 (c) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), a person
2-7 who is the subject of an order under this section may not be
2-8 required to work in the program more than:
2-9 (1) 32 hours for each week that the person
2-10 participates in the program; and
2-11 (2) 16 weeks in a 12-month period.
2-12 (d) A person who is subject to an order under this section
2-13 and who is required by a governmental entity to participate in
2-14 another work or job training program at the same time the person is
2-15 required to participate in a program under this section may not
2-16 work in the program under this section a total number of hours each
2-17 week that exceeds the difference between 32 hours and the number of
2-18 hours the person is required to work in the other program.
2-19 (e) A person who is subject to an order under this section
2-20 and who is employed may not work in the program under this section
2-21 a total number of hours each week that exceeds 80 percent of the
2-22 difference between 40 hours and the number of hours the person
2-23 actually works in the person's employment.
2-24 (f) A court may not order a person who is employed more than
2-25 32 hours a week to participate in a community work experience
2-26 program under this section.
2-27 SECTION 2. Chapter 76, Human Resources Code, is amended by
3-1 adding Section 76.012 to read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 76.012. COMMUNITY WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMS. (a) The
3-3 attorney general may:
3-4 (1) contract with a county to establish a community
3-5 work experience program in the county; or
3-6 (2) approve a community work experience program
3-7 established by an individual or agency that meets the requirements
3-8 of this section.
3-9 (b) A program contracted for or approved under this section
3-10 shall provide community work experience for an obligor who is the
3-11 subject of an enforcement order under Section 14.401, Family Code.
3-12 (c) The attorney general by rule shall adopt guidelines
3-13 consistent with this section for a program contracted for or
3-14 approved under this section. Guidelines under this subsection
3-15 shall include:
3-16 (1) standards for the contents of the program;
3-17 (2) standards for the type of work performed by a
3-18 program participant; and
3-19 (3) other requirements that the attorney general
3-20 determines are necessary for the program's operation.
3-21 (d) A community work experience program contracted for or
3-22 approved by the attorney general must be designed to provide:
3-23 (1) job training for a person ordered to participate
3-24 in the program; and
3-25 (2) an incentive for a person who is delinquent in the
3-26 payment of child support to meet the person's financial obligations
3-27 and comply with the court's order to pay child support.
4-1 (e) A person who participates in a community work experience
4-2 program established by a county under this section is considered to
4-3 be a county employee for workers' compensation purposes only.
4-4 (f) A person who participates in a community work
4-5 experience program under this section is entitled to reimbursement
4-6 for transportation expenses from the county, individual, or agency
4-7 offering the program in an amount not to exceed $25 each month.
4-8 (g) The attorney general shall pay a county or an individual
4-9 or agency that establishes a community work experience program
4-10 contracted for or approved under this section $200 for each person
4-11 that participates in the program. The county, individual, or
4-12 agency shall pay the remainder of the costs of administering the
4-13 program.
4-14 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1995,
4-15 and applies only to the enforcement of a child support order that
4-16 is entered or modified after that date.
4-17 (b) The enactment of this Act is not sufficient by itself to
4-18 constitute a material and substantial change in the circumstances
4-19 of a child for whose benefit a child support order has been entered
4-20 to warrant modification of the order under Section 14.08, Family
4-21 Code.
4-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.