79R9251 JMM-D

By:  Bonnen                                                       H.B. No. 2408



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to delivery to an employer of an order or writ for the 
withholding of child support from an employee's earnings.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 158.105, Family Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read 
as follows:
	(b)  The clerk shall issue and deliver [mail] the certified 
copy of the order or judicial writ not later than the fourth working 
day after the date the order is signed or the request is filed, 
whichever is later.
	(c)  An order or judicial writ of withholding shall be 
delivered to the employer by first class mail or, if requested, by 
certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, by
electronic transmission,  including electronic mail or facsimile 
transmission, or by service of citation to:
		(1)  the person authorized to receive service of 
process for the employer in civil cases generally;  or
		(2)  a person designated by the employer, by written 
notice to the clerk, to receive orders or writs of withholding.
	(d)  The clerk may deliver an order or judicial writ of 
withholding under Subsection (c) by electronic mail if the employer 
has an electronic mail address or by facsimile transmission if the 
employer is capable of receiving documents transmitted in that 
manner.  If delivery is accomplished by electronic mail, the clerk 
must request acknowledgment of receipt from the employer or use an 
electronic mail system with a read receipt capability.  If delivery 
is accomplished by facsimile transmission, the clerk's facsimile 
machine must create a delivery confirmation report.
	SECTION 2.  Section 158.105, Family Code, as amended by this 
Act, applies only to an order or judicial writ of withholding 
delivered to an employer on or after the effective date of this Act.  
An order or judicial writ of withholding delivered before the 
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the 
date the order or writ was delivered, and the former law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.