| TO: | Honorable Harold V. Dutton, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Juvenile Justice & Family Issues |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB949 by Davis, Yvonne (Relating to the establishment of the paternity of a child; providing a criminal penalty.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Family Code to create as a Class C misdemeanor offense a mother of a child signing an acknowledgment of paternity with the intent to establish the paternity of a man who the mother knows is not the biological father of the child or who maintains a proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of a man who she knows is not the biological father.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2007.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) states that implementing the bill would require significant updates to paternity and genetic testing policies, procedures, and training information. Considerable updates would also be required for the "acknowledgment of paternity" hospital training program. The written notice detailing the legal consequences of an adjudication of parentage to be served with the pleadings would require legal forms updates. However, the Child Support Division of the OAG anticipates that additional work resulting from passage of the bill could be absorbed with current resources.
| Source Agencies: | 212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 302 Office of the Attorney General
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, MN, DB
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