| |
| |
| |
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the duties of the Title IV-D agency regarding the |
|
|
establishment, collection, and enforcement of child support. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 108.001(d), Family Code, as amended by |
|
|
S.B. No. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, |
|
|
is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(d) In a Title IV-D case, the Title IV-D agency may transmit |
|
|
the record and information specified by Subsection (a) directly to |
|
|
the vital statistics unit[, with a copy to the clerk of the court on
|
|
|
request by the clerk]. The record and information are not required |
|
|
to be certified if transmitted by the Title IV-D agency under this |
|
|
subsection. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 231.101(d), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(d) The Title IV-D agency may review a support order at any |
|
|
time on a showing of a material and substantial change in |
|
|
circumstances, taking into consideration the best interests of the |
|
|
child. If the Title IV-D agency determines that the primary care |
|
|
and possession of the child has changed, the Title IV-D agency may |
|
|
file a petition for modification under Chapter 156. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 231.108(a), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), all files and |
|
|
records of services provided by the Title IV-D agency under this |
|
|
title [chapter], including information concerning a custodial |
|
|
parent, a noncustodial parent, a child, or [and] an alleged or |
|
|
presumed father, are confidential. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 231.302(b), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) A government agency, private company, institution, or |
|
|
other entity shall provide the information requested under |
|
|
Subsection (a) directly to the Title IV-D agency not later than the |
|
|
seventh day after the request to obtain information is received, |
|
|
without the requirement of payment of a fee for the information, and |
|
|
shall, subject to safeguards on privacy and information security, |
|
|
provide the information in the most efficient and expeditious |
|
|
manner available, including electronic or automated transfer and |
|
|
interface. Any individual or entity disclosing information under |
|
|
this section in response to a request from a Title IV-D agency may |
|
|
not be held liable in any civil action or proceeding to any person |
|
|
for the disclosure of information under this subsection. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 233.013(b), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) If grounds exist for modification of [it has been three
|
|
|
years since] a child support order under Subchapter E, Chapter 156 |
|
|
[was rendered or last modified and the amount of the child support
|
|
|
award under the order differs by either 20 percent or $100 from the
|
|
|
amount that would be awarded under the child support guidelines], |
|
|
the Title IV-D agency may file an appropriate child support review |
|
|
order, including an order that has the effect of modifying an |
|
|
existing court or administrative order for child support without |
|
|
the necessity of filing a motion to modify. |
|
|
SECTION 6. Section 233.028(c), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) If a party denies parentage of a child whose parentage |
|
|
has not previously been acknowledged or adjudicated, the Title IV-D |
|
|
agency shall order parentage testing and give each party notice of |
|
|
the time and place of testing. If either party fails or refuses to |
|
|
participate in administrative parentage testing, the Title IV-D |
|
|
agency may file a child support review order resolving the question |
|
|
of parentage against that party. The court shall confirm the child |
|
|
support review order as a temporary or final order of the court only |
|
|
after an opportunity for parentage testing has been provided. |
|
|
SECTION 7. Section 234.101(1), Family Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(1) "Employee" means an individual who is an employee |
|
|
within the meaning of Chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of |
|
|
1986 (26 U.S.C. Section 3401(c)) or an independent contractor as |
|
|
defined by the Internal Revenue Service. The term does not include |
|
|
an employee of a state agency performing intelligence or |
|
|
counterintelligence functions if the head of the agency has |
|
|
determined that reporting employee information under this |
|
|
subchapter could endanger the safety of the employee or compromise |
|
|
an ongoing investigation or intelligence activity. |
|
|
SECTION 8. (a) Section 108.001, Family Code, as amended by |
|
|
this Act, applies only to the transmission of a record and |
|
|
information to the vital statistics unit of the Department of State |
|
|
Health Services on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
(b) Section 231.302, Family Code, as amended by this Act, |
|
|
applies only to a request for information that is received on or |
|
|
after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
| |
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1727 passed the Senate on |
|
|
May 8, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the |
|
|
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 29, 2015, by the |
|
|
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
______________________________ |
| |
Secretary of the Senate |
| |
|
|
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1727 passed the House, with |
|
|
amendment, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 144, |
|
|
Nays 0, two present not voting. |
|
|
|
| |
| |
______________________________ |
| |
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Approved: |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Date |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Governor |