1-1     By:  Carona                                           S.B. No. 1161

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1997; March 17, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;

 1-4     April 10, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 10, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1161                    By:  Cain

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the authority of certain counties to contract with

1-11     private entities for child support and visitation enforcement

1-12     services.

1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-14           SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 10, Human Resources Code, is

1-15     amended by adding Chapter 153 to read as follows:

1-16          CHAPTER 153.  CHILD SUPPORT COLLECTION BY PRIVATE ENTITY

1-17           Sec. 153.001.  APPLICABILITY.  This chapter applies only to a

1-18     county that:

1-19                 (1)  has a population of 1,800,000 or more; and

1-20                 (2)  did not have the authority to contract with a

1-21     private entity to receive, disburse, and record payments or

1-22     restitution of child support on January 1, 1997.

1-23           Sec. 153.002.  AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT.  A county, acting

1-24     through its commissioners court or domestic relations office, may

1-25     contract with a private entity to:

1-26                 (1)  enforce, collect, receive, and disburse:

1-27                       (A)  child support payments;

1-28                       (B)  other amounts due under a court order

1-29     containing an order to pay child support; and

1-30                       (C)  fees, including fees provided by this

1-31     chapter;

1-32                 (2)  maintain appropriate records, including records of

1-33     child support and other amounts and fees that are due, past due,

1-34     paid, or delinquent;

1-35                 (3)  locate absent parents;

1-36                 (4)  furnish statements to parents accounting for

1-37     payments that are due, past due, paid, or delinquent;

1-38                 (5)  send billings and other appropriate notices to

1-39     parents;

1-40                 (6)  perform any duty or function that a local

1-41     registry, as that term is defined by Section 101.018, Family Code,

1-42     is authorized to perform; or

1-43                 (7)  provide another child support or visitation

1-44     enforcement service authorized by the commissioners court,

1-45     including mediation of disputes related to child support or

1-46     visitation.

1-47           Sec. 153.003.  TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT.  The

1-48     commissioners court or domestic relations office shall include all

1-49     appropriate terms and conditions in the contract that it determines

1-50     are reasonable to secure the services of a private entity as

1-51     provided by this chapter, including:

1-52                 (1)  provisions specifying the services to be provided

1-53     by the entity;

1-54                 (2)  the method, conditions, and amount of compensation

1-55     for the entity;

1-56                 (3)  provisions for the security of funds collected as

1-57     child support, fees, or other amounts under the contract or that

1-58     otherwise provide reasonable assurance to the county of the

1-59     entity's full and faithful performance of the contract;

1-60                 (4)  provisions specifying the records to be kept by

1-61     the entity, including any records necessary to fully account for

1-62     all funds received and disbursed as child support, fees, or other

1-63     amounts;

1-64                 (5)  requirements governing the inspection,

 2-1     verification, audit, or explanation of the entity's accounting or

 2-2     other records;

 2-3                 (6)  the county's right to terminate the contract on 30

 2-4     days' notice to the private entity if the private entity engages in

 2-5     an ongoing pattern of child support enforcement that constitutes

 2-6     wilful and gross misconduct subjecting delinquent obligors to

 2-7     unconscionable duress, abuse, or harassment;

 2-8                 (7)  provisions permitting a payor and payee to jointly

 2-9     waive the monitoring procedure, if not required by law, by written

2-10     request approved by order of the court having jurisdiction of the

2-11     suit in which the child support order was issued; and

2-12                 (8)  provisions for the disclosure or nondisclosure of

2-13     information or records maintained or known to the entity as a

2-14     result of contract performance, including a requirement for the

2-15     private entity to:

2-16                       (A)  disclose to any child support obligor that

2-17     the private entity is attempting to enforce the obligor's child

2-18     support obligation; and

2-19                       (B)  make no disclosure of the information or

2-20     records other than in furtherance of the effort to enforce the

2-21     child support order.

2-22           Sec. 153.004.  FUNDING.  (a)  To provide or recover the costs

2-23     of providing services authorized by this chapter, a commissioners

2-24     court, on its behalf or on behalf of the domestic relations office,

2-25     may:

2-26                 (1)  provide by order for the assessment and collection

2-27     of a reasonable fee at the time a party files a suit affecting the

2-28     parent-child relationship under the Family Code;

2-29                 (2)  provide by order for the assessment and collection

2-30     of a fee of $3 per month at a time specified for payment of child

2-31     support;

2-32                 (3)  provide by order for the assessment and collection

2-33     of a late payment fee of $4 per month to be imposed if an obligor

2-34     does not make a payment of child support in full when due;

2-35                 (4)  accept or receive funds from public grants or

2-36     private sources available for providing services authorized by this

2-37     chapter; or

2-38                 (5)  use any combination of funding sources specified

2-39     by this subsection.

2-40           (b)  The commissioners court, on its behalf or on behalf of

2-41     the domestic relations office, may:

2-42                 (1)  provide by order for reasonable exemptions from

2-43     the collection of fees authorized by Subsection (a); and

2-44                 (2)  require payment of a fee authorized by Subsections

2-45     (a)(2) annually and in advance.

2-46           (c)  The commissioners court may not charge a fee under

2-47     Subsection (a)(2) if the amount of child support ordered to be paid

2-48     is less than the equivalent of $100 per month.

2-49           (d)  The fees established under Subsection (a) may be

2-50     collected by any means provided for the collection of child

2-51     support.  The commissioners court may provide by order, on its

2-52     behalf or on behalf of the domestic relations office, for the

2-53     manner of collection of fees and the apportionment of payments

2-54     received to meet fee obligations.

2-55           Sec. 153.005.  CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CHAPTER.  A power or duty

2-56     conferred on a county, county official, or county instrumentality

2-57     by this chapter is cumulative of the powers and duties created or

2-58     conferred by other law.

2-59           SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 154.242, Family Code, is

2-60     amended to read as follows:

2-61           (b)  A local registry may transmit child support payments to

2-62     the Title IV-D agency by electronic funds transfer if the Title

2-63     IV-D agency agrees to accept electronic payment.  An obligor may

2-64     make payments, with the approval of the court entering the order,

2-65     directly to the bank account of the obligee by electronic transfer

2-66     and provide verification of the deposit to the local registry.  A

2-67     local registry in a county that makes deposits into personal bank

2-68     accounts by electronic funds transfer as of April 1, 1995, shall

2-69     transmit a child support payment to an obligee by electronic funds

 3-1     transfer if the obligee maintains a bank account.  The obligee

 3-2     shall furnish to the local registry the necessary bank account

 3-3     information to complete electronic payment if the Title IV-D agency

 3-4     agrees to accept electronic payment.

 3-5           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 3-6           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 3-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 3-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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