Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By: Carona S.B. No. 1161
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of counties to contract with private
1-2 entities for the collection of child support and to electronic
1-3 transfer of the support payments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle B. Title 10, Human Resources Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 153 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 153. CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION BY PRIVATE ENTITY
1-8 Sec. 153.001. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. A county acting
1-9 through its commissioners court or domestic relations office may
1-10 contract with a private entity to:
1-11 (1) enforce, collect, receive, and disburse:
1-12 (A) child support payments;
1-13 (B) other amounts due under a court order
1-14 containing an order to pay support; and
1-15 (C) fees, including those provided by this
1-16 chapter.
1-17 (2) maintain appropriate records, including records of
1-18 child support and other amounts and fees that are due, past due,
1-19 paid, or delinquent;
1-20 (3) locate absent parents;
1-21 (4) furnish statements to parents accounting for
1-22 payments that are due, paid, or delinquent;
1-23 (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 101.018, Family Code,
2-4 is authorized to perform; or
2-5 (7) provide other child support enforcement services
2-6 authorized by the commissioners court or domestic relations office.
2-7 Sec. 153.002. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT. The
2-8 commissioners court or domestic relations office shall include all
2-9 appropriate terms and conditions in the contract that it determines
2-10 are reasonable to secure the services of a private entity as
2-11 provided by this 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
3-1 other records;
3-2 (6) provisions for the disclosure or nondisclosure of
3-3 information or records maintained or known to the entity as a
3-4 result of contract performance; and
3-5 (7) provisions for the option of a payee to waive the
3-6 monitoring procedure by written request.
3-7 Sec. 153.003. FUNDING. (a) To provide or recover the costs
3-8 of providing services authorized by this chapter, a commissioners
3-9 court or domestic relations office may:
3-10 (1) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-11 of a reasonable fee at the time a party files a suit for
3-12 dissolution of a marriage that includes a suit affecting the
3-13 parent-child relationship under the Family Code;
3-14 (2) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-15 of a reasonable fee not to exceed $10 per month at a time specified
3-16 for payment of child support;
3-17 (3) provide by order for the assessment and collection
3-18 of a reasonable late payment fee to be imposed if an obligor does
3-19 not make a payment of child support in full when due;
3-20 (4) accept or receive funds from public grants or
3-21 private sources available for providing services authorized by this
3-22 chapter; or
3-23 (5) use any combination of the funding sources
3-24 specified by this subsection.
3-25 (b) The commissioners court or domestic relations office may
4-1 not charge a fee under Subsection (a)(1) if the person to be
4-2 charged has already been charged a fee under Section 151.008(a)(1).
4-3 (c) The commissioners court or domestic relations office
4-4 may:
4-5 (1) provide by order for reasonable exemptions from
4-6 the collection of the fees authorized by Subsection (a); and
4-7 (2) require payment of a fee authorized by Subsection
4-8 (a)(2) annually and in advance.
4-9 (d) The fees established under Subsection (a) may be
4-10 collected by any means provided for the collection of child
4-11 support. The commissioners court or domestic relations office may
4-12 provide by order for the manner of collecting the fees and the
4-13 apportionment of payments received to meet fee obligations.
4-14 Sec. 153.004. CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CHAPTER. A power or duty
4-15 conferred on a county, county official, or county instrumentality
4-16 by this chapter is cumulative of the powers and duties created or
4-17 conferred by other law, except that county action under this
4-18 chapter precludes the exercise or performance of a power or duty
4-19 created or conferred by other law as expressly provided by order of
4-20 a commissioners court.
4-21 SECTION 2. Section 154.242. Payment or Transfer of Child
4-22 Support Payments by Electronic Funds Transfer.
4-23 (b) A local registry may transmit child support payments to
4-24 the Title IV-D agency by electronic funds transfer if the Title
4-25 IV-D agency agrees to accept electronic payment. An obligor may
5-1 make payments, with the approval of the court entering the order,
5-2 directly to the bank account of the obligee by electronic transfer
5-3 and provide verification of the deposit to the local registry. The
5-4 local registry shall establish the manner by which such
5-5 verification will be received. A local registry in a county that
5-6 makes deposits into personal bank accounts by electronic funds
5-7 transfer as of April 1, 1995, shall transmit a child support
5-8 payment to an obligee by electronic funds transfer if the obligee
5-9 maintains a bank account. The obligee shall furnish to the local
5-10 registry the necessary bank and bank account information to
5-11 complete the electronic funds transfers.
5-12 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act does not
5-13 prevent a county from acting under a provision of Chapter 152,
5-14 Human Resources Code, to enforce, collect, receive, or disburse
5-15 child support or another amount due under a court order containing
5-16 an order to pay child support.
5-17 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.