CJ C.S.H.B. 2843 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUVENILE JUSTICE & FAMILY ISSUES HB 2843 BY: Hirschi 4-17-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The 1995 legislative session made massive revisions to the Family Code. In the process, some items were left unclear or contained wording which needs clarification or refinement for optimum usage by counties enforcing child support obligations. Additionally, the recently passed Federal Welfare Reform Act and the federal regulations for its implementation appear to contain provisions which should be reflected in state law (and which are not part of the general bill relating to compliance with the Federal Reform Act). PURPOSE This bill attempts to clarify and refine several sections of the Family Code and to include changes which appear to be federally mandated. These revisions will assist child support enforcement and payment processing, not only at the county level but also at the state level. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS Section 1. DOMESTIC RELATIONS OFFICE FEE. Directs the district clerk to collect the domestic relations fee provided for in Section 203.005 in order to maximize collection of this county user fee. Section 2. ELECTRONIC TRANSMITTAL would take the mandated shall out of electronic transfers of child support payments and substitute the more permissive may. Section 3. CAPIAS. Allows a civil capias to be entered on the TCIC and NCIC computer networks. Section 4. Section 157.211, COMMUNITY SUPERVISION, is amended to include payment of child support as a condition of civil child support probation. Section 5. UNPAID CHILD SUPPORT AS JUDGMENT. This statutorily defines "date rendered" for interest computation purposes. Section 6. Section 158.104, REQUEST FOR ISSUANCE OF ORDER OR WRIT OF WITHHOLDING. This adds Friend of the Court as an entity which may request issuance of an income withholding order. Section 7. Section 158.105(b) ATTACHMENT OF EMPLOYERS' DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES TO WRITS OF WITHHOLDINGS, corrects the subchapter which the clerk is directed to attach to an income withholding order. Section 8. REMITTING WITHHELD PAYMENTS. Designates what information must be provided when employers send payments withheld pursuant to a child support in order to insure what sufficient information is given to correctly process child support payments. Section 9. Section 202.002(b). This is cleanup wording which makes visitation enforcement, child support enforcement, clarification, and modification discretionary to each Friend of the Court program. Section 10. Section 203.004, Specifically gives a domestic relations office the authority to hire or contract with attorneys to provide services. Section 11. Section 203.006(a). Adds the word received to "fees collected" relative to domestic relations offices fees and the deposit thereof. Section 12. Section 231.0011(m). Adds the ability for all child support cases in a county to become eligible for contracted services with the Title IV-D agency if a county chooses to contract with the IV-D agency. Section 13. Section 231.101. IV-D AGENCY TO DISTRIBUTE PAYMENTS WITHIN TWO DAYS. Requires the IV-D agency to meet the same time line in processing child support payments as presently required of local registries and which is required of the IV-D agency under Section 312 of the Federal Welfare Reform act. Section 14. PENAL CODE: More specifically spells out that non-sufficient child support checks are susceptible to criminal prosecution and classifies the offense as a Class B misdemeanor. Section 15. Effective dates and implementation provisions. Section 16. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE SECTION 6 of the original bill amending Sec. 157.268 of the Family Code is deleted. SECTION 8 of the substitute deletes the requirement to transmit the payor and payee's social security numbers. SECTION 13 of the original (SECTION 12 of the substitute) is changed to delete the amendment to subsection (g) and instead adds a new subsection (m) which allows the Title IV-D agency to contract with the counties for services for non-Title IV-D cases. SECTION 15 of the substitute deletes the references to changes in Section 157.268 in SECTION 16 of the original bill; a conforming change.