| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a program within the Office of Court Administration of |
|
|
the Texas Judicial System to provide reimbursement for legal |
|
|
representation in certain suits affecting the parent-child |
|
|
relationship. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 72, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 72.033 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 72.033. REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING LEGAL |
|
|
REPRESENTATION IN CHILD PROTECTION COURTS. (a) In this section, |
|
|
"child protection court" means a court presided over by an |
|
|
associate judge appointed under Subchapter C, Chapter 201, Family |
|
|
Code, and to whom child protection cases are referred in accordance |
|
|
with that subchapter. |
|
|
(b) The director shall establish a program within the office |
|
|
to reimburse counties for certain attorney's fees paid by the |
|
|
counties for legal representation provided under Part 1, Subchapter |
|
|
B, Chapter 107, Family Code, in suits affecting the parent-child |
|
|
relationship heard in a child protection court. A county may be |
|
|
reimbursed for attorney's fees if: |
|
|
(1) the attorney who provided representation was on |
|
|
the list maintained by the office under Subsection (c); and |
|
|
(2) the attorney was paid in accordance with the fee |
|
|
schedule set by the office for attorney's fees under Subsection |
|
|
(c). |
|
|
(c) The office shall: |
|
|
(1) maintain a list of attorneys whose fees may be |
|
|
eligible for state reimbursement to the county under this section; |
|
|
(2) establish minimum standards and qualifications |
|
|
for an attorney to be placed on the list; |
|
|
(3) monitor and audit the legal representation |
|
|
provided by the attorneys whose fees are reimbursed under this |
|
|
section; and |
|
|
(4) set a uniform fee schedule that a county must |
|
|
follow to qualify for reimbursement under this section. |
|
|
(d) The office may use available funding to expand the |
|
|
reimbursement provided to counties other than those with a child |
|
|
protection court for suits affecting the parent-child relationship |
|
|
under Part 1, Subchapter B, Chapter 107, Family Code. |
|
|
(e) Not later than December 31 of each even-numbered year, |
|
|
the office shall report to the legislature: |
|
|
(1) a list of the counties that received reimbursement |
|
|
under this section and the amount received by each county; |
|
|
(2) the number of cases, by county, where attorney's |
|
|
fees were eligible for reimbursement under this section; |
|
|
(3) the average amount per case reimbursed to each |
|
|
county under this section; and |
|
|
(4) a list of the counties with child protection |
|
|
courts that did not receive reimbursement under this section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |