1-1 By: Harris S.B. No. 391
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 3, 1999; February 4, 1999,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 March 3, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 4,
1-5 Nays 0; March 3, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the enforcement of a child support order by a domestic
1-9 relations office and to requests for related information.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 203.004, Family Code, is
1-12 amended to read as follows:
1-13 (a) A domestic relations office may:
1-14 (1) collect and disburse child support payments that
1-15 are ordered by a court to be paid through a domestic relations
1-16 registry;
1-17 (2) maintain records of payments and disbursements
1-18 made under Subdivision (1);
1-19 (3) file a suit, including a suit to:
1-20 (A) establish paternity;
1-21 (B) enforce a court order for child support or
1-22 for possession of and access to a child; and
1-23 (C) modify or clarify an existing child support
1-24 order;
1-25 (4) provide an informal forum in which:
1-26 (A) mediation is used to resolve disputes in an
1-27 action under Subdivision (3); or
1-28 (B) an agreed repayment schedule for delinquent
1-29 child support is negotiated as an alternative to filing a suit to
1-30 enforce a court order for child support under Subdivision (3);
1-31 (5) prepare a court-ordered social study;
1-32 (6) represent a child as guardian ad litem in a suit
1-33 in which:
1-34 (A) termination of the parent-child relationship
1-35 is sought; or
1-36 (B) conservatorship of or access to a child is
1-37 contested;
1-38 (7) serve as a friend of the court;
1-39 (8) provide predivorce counseling ordered by a court;
1-40 (9) provide community supervision services under
1-41 Chapter 157; and
1-42 (10) provide information to assist a party in
1-43 understanding, complying with, or enforcing the party's duties and
1-44 obligations under Subdivision (3).
1-45 SECTION 2. Section 203.007, Family Code, is amended to read
1-46 as follows:
1-47 Sec. 203.007. ACCESS TO RECORDS; OFFENSE. (a) A domestic
1-48 relations office may obtain the records described by Subsections
1-49 (b), [and] (c), (d), and (e) that relate to a person who has:
1-50 (1) been ordered to pay child support;
1-51 (2) been designated as a possessory conservator or
1-52 managing conservator of a child;
1-53 (3) been designated to be the father of a child; or
1-54 (4) executed a statement of paternity.
1-55 (b) A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain from
1-56 the Department of Public Safety records that relate to:
1-57 (1) a person's date of birth;
1-58 (2) a person's most recent address;
1-59 (3) a person's current driver's license status;
1-60 (4) motor vehicle accidents involving a person; and
1-61 (5) reported traffic-law violations of which a person
1-62 has been convicted.
1-63 (c) A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain from
1-64 the Texas Workforce [Employment] Commission records that relate to:
2-1 (1) a person's address;
2-2 (2) a person's employment status and earnings;
2-3 (3) the name and address of a person's current or
2-4 former employer; and
2-5 (4) unemployment compensation benefits received by a
2-6 person.
2-7 (d) To the extent permitted by federal law, a domestic
2-8 relations office is entitled to obtain from the National Directory
2-9 of New Hires established under 42 U.S.C. Section 653(i), as
2-10 amended, records that relate to a person described by Subsection
2-11 (a), including records that relate to:
2-12 (1) the name, telephone number, and address of the
2-13 person's employer;
2-14 (2) information provided by the person on a W-4 form;
2-15 and
2-16 (3) information provided by the person's employer on a
2-17 Title IV-D form.
2-18 (e) To the extent permitted by federal law, a domestic
2-19 relations office is entitled to obtain from the state case registry
2-20 records that relate to a person described by Subsection (a),
2-21 including records that relate to:
2-22 (1) the street and mailing address and the social
2-23 security number of the person;
2-24 (2) the name, telephone number, and address of the
2-25 person's employer;
2-26 (3) the location and value of real and personal
2-27 property owned by the person; and
2-28 (4) the name and address of each financial institution
2-29 in which the person maintains an account and the account number for
2-30 each account.
2-31 (f) An agency required to provide records under this section
2-32 may charge a domestic relations office a fee for providing the
2-33 records in an amount that does not exceed the amount paid for those
2-34 records by the agency responsible for Title IV-D cases.
2-35 (g) [(e)] The Department of Public Safety, the Texas
2-36 Workforce [Employment] Commission, or the office of the secretary
2-37 of state may charge a domestic relations office a fee not to exceed
2-38 the charge paid by the Title IV-D agency for furnishing records
2-39 under this section.
2-40 (h) [(f)] Information obtained by a domestic relations
2-41 office under this section that is confidential under a
2-42 constitution, statute, judicial decision, or rule is privileged and
2-43 may be used only by that office.
2-44 (i) [(g)] A person commits an offense if the person releases
2-45 or discloses confidential information obtained under this section
2-46 without the consent of the person to whom the information relates.
2-47 An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
2-48 (j) [(h)] A domestic relations office is entitled to obtain
2-49 from the office of the secretary of state the following information
2-50 about a registered voter to the extent that the information is
2-51 available:
2-52 (1) complete name;
2-53 (2) current and former street and mailing address;
2-54 (3) sex;
2-55 (4) date of birth;
2-56 (5) social security number; and
2-57 (6) telephone number.
2-58 SECTION 3. Section 233.001, Family Code, as added by Chapter
2-59 420, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
2-60 amended to read as follows:
2-61 Sec. 233.001. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. (a) The state case
2-62 registry shall provide information under this chapter on the
2-63 written request of a custodial parent, domestic relations office,
2-64 or friend of the court regarding a case that [whose case]:
2-65 (1) is included in the state case registry established
2-66 under 42 U.S.C. Section 654a and for which [whom] the Title IV-D
2-67 agency is not providing enforcement services; or
2-68 (2) would otherwise not be required to be included in
2-69 the state case registry under 42 U.S.C. Section 654a but for which
3-1 an application has been made [who has applied] for inclusion under
3-2 Section 233.002.
3-3 (b) The state case registry shall provide to a custodial
3-4 parent under Subsection (a) who makes a request for information or
3-5 to an attorney or [, friend of the court,] guardian ad litem[, or
3-6 domestic relations office] designated by the parent any information
3-7 in the registry concerning the parent's case, including:
3-8 (1) the noncustodial parent's address, social security
3-9 number, and employer's name and address;
3-10 (2) the amount and location of real and personal
3-11 property owned by the noncustodial parent;
3-12 (3) the name and address of financial institutions in
3-13 which the noncustodial parent has an account and each account
3-14 number; and
3-15 (4) any other information the disclosure of which is
3-16 not specifically prohibited by federal law.
3-17 (c) To the extent permitted by federal law, the state case
3-18 registry shall provide the information described by Subsection (b)
3-19 to a domestic relations office or friend of the court that makes a
3-20 request for information under Subsection (a).
3-21 SECTION 4. Section 233.003, Family Code, as added by Chapter
3-22 420, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is
3-23 amended to read as follows:
3-24 Sec. 233.003. APPLICATION FOR SERVICES NOT REQUIRED. The
3-25 Title IV-D agency may not require an application for services as a
3-26 condition for:
3-27 (1) releasing information under Section 233.001 [to a
3-28 custodial parent or to the person designated by the parent]; or
3-29 (2) including a case in the state case registry under
3-30 Section 233.002.
3-31 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-32 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-33 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-34 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-35 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-36 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-37 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-38 * * * * *