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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the child support obligation of an obligor during the |
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obligor's confinement in jail or prison. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 157.162, Family Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: |
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(d) The court may not find a respondent in contempt of court |
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for failure to pay child support if the respondent, or the |
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respondent's attorney if the respondent is confined in jail or |
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prison at the time of the hearing, appears at the hearing and |
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presents credible evidence showing that: |
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(1) the unpaid child support accrued during the |
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obligor's confinement in a local, state, or federal jail or prison |
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for a period of at least 90 consecutive days, other than |
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confinement: |
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(A) for an offense constituting an act of family |
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violence, as defined by Section 71.004, committed against the |
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obligee or a child covered by the child support order; or |
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(B) resulting from the obligor's failure to |
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comply with a child support order; and |
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(2) the obligor did not have sufficient resources |
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available to comply with the child support order during the period |
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of the obligor's confinement. |
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SECTION 2. Section 157.162(d), Family Code, as added by |
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this Act, applies to a hearing to enforce an order in a suit |
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affecting the parent-child relationship that commences on or after |
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the effective date of this Act. A hearing that commences before the |
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effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the |
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date the hearing commenced, and the former law is continued in |
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effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |