AN ACT
1-1 relating to the enforcement of a child support order by a domestic
1-2 relations office and to requests for related information.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 203.004, Family Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A domestic relations office may:
1-7 (1) collect and disburse child support payments that
1-8 are ordered by a court to be paid through a domestic relations
1-9 registry;
1-10 (2) maintain records of payments and disbursements
1-11 made under Subdivision (1);
1-12 (3) file a suit, including a suit to:
1-13 (A) establish paternity;
1-14 (B) enforce a court order for child support or
1-15 for possession of and access to a child; and
1-16 (C) modify or clarify an existing child support
1-17 order;
1-18 (4) provide an informal forum in which:
1-19 (A) mediation is used to resolve disputes in an
1-20 action under Subdivision (3); or
1-21 (B) an agreed repayment schedule for delinquent
1-22 child support is negotiated as an alternative to filing a suit to
1-23 enforce a court order for child support under Subdivision (3);
1-24 (5) prepare a court-ordered social study;
2-1 (6) represent a child as guardian ad litem in a suit
2-2 in which:
2-3 (A) termination of the parent-child relationship
2-4 is sought; or
2-5 (B) conservatorship of or access to a child is
2-6 contested;
2-7 (7) serve as a friend of the court;
2-8 (8) provide predivorce counseling ordered by a court;
2-9 (9) provide community supervision services under
2-10 Chapter 157; and
2-11 (10) provide information to assist a party in
2-12 understanding, complying with, or enforcing the party's duties and
2-13 obligations under Subdivision (3).
2-14 SECTION 2. Section 203.007, Family Code, is amended to read
2-15 as follows:
2-16 Sec. 203.007. ACCESS TO RECORDS; OFFENSE. (a) A domestic
2-17 relations office may obtain the records described by Subsections
2-18 (b), [and] (c), (d), and (e) that relate to a person who has:
2-19 (1) been ordered to pay child support;
2-20 (2) been designated as a possessory conservator or
2-21 managing conservator of a child;
2-22 (3) been designated to be the father of a child; or
2-23 (4) executed a statement of paternity.
2-24 (b) A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain from
2-25 the Department of Public Safety records that relate to:
2-26 (1) a person's date of birth;
3-1 (2) a person's most recent address;
3-2 (3) a person's current driver's license status;
3-3 (4) motor vehicle accidents involving a person; and
3-4 (5) reported traffic-law violations of which a person
3-5 has been convicted.
3-6 (c) A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain from
3-7 the Texas Workforce [Employment] Commission records that relate to:
3-8 (1) a person's address;
3-9 (2) a person's employment status and earnings;
3-10 (3) the name and address of a person's current or
3-11 former employer; and
3-12 (4) unemployment compensation benefits received by a
3-13 person.
3-14 (d) To the extent permitted by federal law, a domestic
3-15 relations office is entitled to obtain from the National Directory
3-16 of New Hires established under 42 U.S.C. Section 653(i), as
3-17 amended, records that relate to a person described by Subsection
3-18 (a), including records that relate to:
3-19 (1) the name, telephone number, and address of the
3-20 person's employer;
3-21 (2) information provided by the person on a W-4 form;
3-22 and
3-23 (3) information provided by the person's employer on a
3-24 Title IV-D form.
3-25 (e) To the extent permitted by federal law, a domestic
3-26 relations office is entitled to obtain from the state case registry
4-1 records that relate to a person described by Subsection (a),
4-2 including records that relate to:
4-3 (1) the street and mailing address and the social
4-4 security number of the person;
4-5 (2) the name, telephone number, and address of the
4-6 person's employer;
4-7 (3) the location and value of real and personal
4-8 property owned by the person; and
4-9 (4) the name and address of each financial institution
4-10 in which the person maintains an account and the account number for
4-11 each account.
4-12 (f) An agency required to provide records under this section
4-13 may charge a domestic relations office a fee for providing the
4-14 records in an amount that does not exceed the amount paid for those
4-15 records by the agency responsible for Title IV-D cases.
4-16 (g) [(e)] The Department of Public Safety, the Texas
4-17 Workforce [Employment] Commission, or the office of the secretary
4-18 of state may charge a domestic relations office a fee not to exceed
4-19 the charge paid by the Title IV-D agency for furnishing records
4-20 under this section.
4-21 (h) [(f)] Information obtained by a domestic relations
4-22 office under this section that is confidential under a
4-23 constitution, statute, judicial decision, or rule is privileged and
4-24 may be used only by that office.
4-25 (i) [(g)] A person commits an offense if the person releases
4-26 or discloses confidential information obtained under this section
5-1 without the consent of the person to whom the information relates.
5-2 An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
5-3 (j) [(h)] A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain
5-4 from the office of the secretary of state the following information
5-5 about a registered voter to the extent that the information is
5-6 available:
5-7 (1) complete name;
5-8 (2) current and former street and mailing address;
5-9 (3) sex;
5-10 (4) date of birth;
5-11 (5) social security number; and
5-12 (6) telephone number.
5-13 SECTION 3. Section 233.003, Family Code, as added by Chapter
5-14 420, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
5-15 amended to read as follows:
5-16 Sec. 233.003. APPLICATION FOR SERVICES NOT REQUIRED. The
5-17 Title IV-D agency may not require an application for services as a
5-18 condition for:
5-19 (1) releasing information under Section 233.001 [to a
5-20 custodial parent or to the person designated by the parent]; or
5-21 (2) including a case in the state case registry under
5-22 Section 233.002.
5-23 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-3 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 391 passed the Senate on
March 25, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 28, 1999, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 391 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 26, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 144,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor