By Madla S.B. No. 1214
75R8989 MWV-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain fees collected by court clerks and domestic
1-3 relations offices.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 203.005, Family Code, is amended to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 203.005. FEES AND CHARGES. (a) The administering
1-8 entity may authorize a domestic relations office or the district
1-9 clerk to assess and collect:
1-10 (1) an initial operations fee not to exceed $30 [$15]
1-11 to be paid to the domestic relations office or the district clerk,
1-12 in the amount and manner determined by the administering entity, on
1-13 the filing of a suit;
1-14 (2) a reasonable application fee to be paid by an
1-15 applicant requesting services from the office;
1-16 (3) a reasonable attorney's fee and court costs
1-17 incurred or ordered by the court;
1-18 (4) a monthly child support service fee not to exceed
1-19 $6 [$3] to be paid by a managing conservator or [and] possessory
1-20 conservator for whom the domestic relations office acts as a local
1-21 child support registry;
1-22 (5) community supervision fees as provided by Chapter
1-23 157 if community supervision officers are employed by the domestic
1-24 relations office; and
2-1 (6) a reasonable fee for preparation of a
2-2 court-ordered social study.
2-3 (b) If an administering entity does not authorize the
2-4 collection of a monthly child support service fee under Subsection
2-5 (a)(4), the administering entity may authorize the district clerk
2-6 or the domestic relations office to collect a child support fee of
2-7 not more than $72 from a managing conservator or possessory
2-8 conservator in cases other than cases filed under Part D, Title IV
2-9 of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 651 et seq.),
2-10 for whom the domestic relations office acts as a local child
2-11 support registry. The district clerk or the domestic relations
2-12 office shall annually assess the fee on the anniversary of the
2-13 original court order to pay child support. A court may order that
2-14 an indigent individual be exempted from the requirement to pay the
2-15 annual fee [The first payment of a fee under Subsection (a)(4) is
2-16 due on the date that the person required to pay support is ordered
2-17 to begin child support, alimony, or separate maintenance payments.
2-18 Subsequent payments of the fee are due annually and in advance].
2-19 (c) The director of a domestic relations office or the
2-20 district clerk shall attempt to collect all fees as directed by the
2-21 administering entity in an efficient manner.
2-22 (d) The administering entity may provide for an exemption
2-23 from the payment of a fee authorized under this section if payment
2-24 of the fee is not practical or in the interest of justice. Fees
2-25 that may be exempted under this subsection include fees related to:
2-26 (1) spousal and child support payments made under an
2-27 interstate pact;
3-1 (2) a suit brought by the Texas Department of Human
3-2 Services;
3-3 (3) activities performed by the Department of
3-4 Protective and Regulatory Services or another governmental agency,
3-5 a private adoption agency, or a charitable organization; and
3-6 (4) services for a person who has applied for or who
3-7 receives public assistance under the laws of this state.
3-8 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
3-9 applies to a fee that becomes payable on or after that date. A fee
3-10 that became payable before the effective date of this Act is
3-11 governed by the law in effect when the fee became payable, and that
3-12 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.