88R4680 MLH-D

By: Vasut H.B. No. 4715

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of paternity and the duty to pay child support and to victim restitution or compensation for certain sexual offenses resulting in pregnancy.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article 42.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Section 17 to read as follows:

Sec. 17. In addition to the information described by Section 1, the judgment should reflect affirmative findings entered pursuant to Article 42.01915.

SECTION 2. Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Articles 42.01915 and 42.0375 to read as follows:

Art. 42.01915. FINDING REGARDING PREGNANCY RESULTING FROM CERTAIN SEXUAL OFFENSES. In the trial of an offense under Section 21.02, 21.11(a)(1), 22.011, 22.021, or 25.02, Penal Code, the judge shall make an affirmative finding of fact and enter the affirmative finding in the judgment in the case if the judge determines that the commission of the offense resulted in the victim becoming pregnant.

Art. 42.0375. MANDATORY RESTITUTION FOR PREGNANCY RESULTING FROM CERTAIN SEXUAL OFFENSES. (a) The court shall order a defendant convicted of an offense under Section 21.02, 21.11(a)(1), 22.011, 22.021, or 25.02, Penal Code, to pay restitution for a child whose parent was the victim of the offense if the judge:

(1) has made an affirmative finding under Article 42.01915; and

(2) determines that the child resulted from the pregnancy that was the subject of the finding under Article 42.01915.

(b) Notwithstanding Article 42.037(g) and subject to Subsection (c), the court shall determine an amount to be paid by the defendant monthly for the support of the child until the child reaches 18 years of age or has graduated from high school, whichever is later.

(c) The defendant shall pay an amount equal to:

(1) 200 percent of the amount of any child support ordered under Chapter 154, Family Code, if the defendant has executed a valid acknowledgment of paternity in regard to the child; or

(2) 350 percent of the amount of any child support ordered under Chapter 154, Family Code, if the defendant contested parentage of the child and the court rendered an order under Chapter 160, Family Code, establishing the defendant's paternity of the child.

(d) The order must require restitution payments to be:

(1) delivered in the manner described by Article 42.037(g-2)(1) or (3); and

(2) directed to the parent or guardian of the child or the Department of Family and Protective Services, as applicable.

(e) If a defendant ordered to pay restitution under this article is unable to make the required restitution payments because the defendant is confined or imprisoned in a correctional facility, the defendant shall begin payments not later than the first anniversary of the date of the defendant's release from the facility. The defendant may enter into a payment plan to address any arrearage that exists on the date of the defendant's release. The defendant must pay all arrearages regardless of whether the restitution payments were scheduled to terminate while the defendant was confined or imprisoned in the correctional facility.

(f) Notwithstanding Article 42.037(f)(2), the amount of restitution paid under this article may not be deducted from any civil judgment against the defendant or deducted from or reduce any child support owed under Chapter 154, Family Code.

(g) A restitution order issued under this article may be enforced by the state, or by a person or a parent or guardian of the person named in the order to receive the restitution, in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action.

SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 56B, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by adding Article 56B.1045 to read as follows:

Art. 56B.1045. COMPENSATION FOR PREGNANCY RESULTING FROM CERTAIN SEXUAL OFFENSES. (a) This article applies to an applicant for compensation under this chapter who is the victim of sexual assault or an offense under Section 25.02, Penal Code, that resulted in the applicant becoming pregnant.

(b) Notwithstanding other law, pecuniary loss under this article includes:

(1) medical expenses for the birth of the child resulting from the pregnancy and for the child's medical care; and

(2) expenses incurred by the applicant relating to any adoption of the child resulting from the pregnancy.

(c) Notwithstanding Article 56B.107 or any other law, the attorney general may not deny or reduce an award under this article because the applicant for compensation has recouped the applicant's pecuniary loss from a collateral source, including from an order of restitution under Article 42.0375.

(d) If the compensation to victims of crime fund is unable to pay all claims under this chapter, the attorney general shall give priority to an applicant under this article.

SECTION 4. Section 33.006(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) In addition to a school counselor's responsibility under Subsection (a), the school counselor shall:

(1) participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve all students and to address the special needs of students:

(A) who are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide;

(B) who are in need of modified instructional strategies; or

(C) who are gifted and talented, with emphasis on identifying and serving gifted and talented students who are educationally disadvantaged;

(2) consult with a student's parent or guardian and make referrals as appropriate in consultation with the student's parent or guardian;

(3) consult with school staff, parents, and other community members to help them increase the effectiveness of student education and promote student success;

(4) coordinate people and resources in the school, home, and community;

(5) with the assistance of school staff, interpret standardized test results and other assessment data that help a student make educational and career plans;

(6) deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school's guidance curriculum; [and]

(7) serve as an impartial, nonreporting resource for interpersonal conflicts and discord involving two or more students, including accusations of bullying under Section 37.0832; and

(8) in consultation with the student's parent, provide each pregnant student with written informational materials regarding the following laws:

(1) Article 42.0375, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(2) Article 56B.1045, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(3) Section 154.0091, Family Code;

(4) Section 154.122, Family Code; and

(5) Section 160.638, Family Code.

SECTION 5. Section 355.102(e), Estates Code, is amended to read as follows:

(e) Class 4 claims are composed of claims:

(1) for the principal amount of and accrued interest on delinquent child support and child support arrearages that have been:

(A) confirmed as a judgment or a determination of arrearages by a court under Title 5, Family Code; or

(B) administratively determined by the Title IV-D agency, as defined by Section 101.033, Family Code, in a Title IV-D case, as defined by Section 101.034, Family Code; [and]

(2) for unpaid child support obligations under Section 154.015, Family Code; and

(3) for unpaid restitution for a sexual offense under Article 42.0375, Code of Criminal Procedure, that resulted in the victim becoming pregnant.

SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 154, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 154.0091 to read as follows:

Sec. 154.0091. RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT ON ADJUDICATION OR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or other law, in any order rendered under Chapter 160, establishing a man's paternity of a child, or in any suit to establish the child support obligation of a man whose paternity has been established by the execution of a valid acknowledgment of paternity in regard to the child under Subchapter D, Chapter 160, the court shall order the man to pay retroactive child support for the child beginning on the earliest possible date of the child's conception, as determined by a physician.

(b) In ordering retroactive child support under this section, the court shall apply the child support guidelines provided by this chapter and, on a proper showing, order the man to pay an equitable portion of all of the prenatal and postnatal health care expenses of the mother and the child.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 157.261 or any other law, interest does not begin to accrue on a retroactive child support payment due under this section until the first anniversary of the date the judge renders the order establishing the obligation.

SECTION 7. Section 154.122, Family Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The presumption under Subsection (a) is rebutted if the obligor contested parentage and the court rendered an order under Chapter 160 establishing the obligor's paternity of the child. If the presumption is rebutted under this subsection, the court shall order the obligor to pay periodic child support in an amount equal to 150 percent of the amount the court would otherwise order under the child support guidelines.

SECTION 8. Section 154.131, Family Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(d) The presumption created under this section may be rebutted by evidence that:

(1) the obligor:

(A) [(1)] knew or should have known that the obligor was the father of the child for whom support is sought; and

(B) [(2)] sought to avoid the establishment of a support obligation to the child; or

(2) paternity has been established under Subsection (g) for a man other than the obligor.

(g) If an obligor executed a valid acknowledgment of paternity and on a later date an order rendered under Chapter 160 establishes that a man other than the obligor is the father of the child who is the subject of the support order, the man who is the subject of the order under Chapter 160 shall reimburse the obligor for all child support previously paid by the obligor for the benefit of the child.

SECTION 9. Section 160.636(g), Family Code, is amended to read as follows:

(g) On a finding of parentage, the court shall [may] order retroactive child support as provided by Section 154.0091 [Chapter 154 and, on a proper showing, order a party to pay an equitable portion of all of the prenatal and postnatal health care expenses of the mother and the child].

SECTION 10. Subchapter G, Chapter 160, Family Code, is amended by adding Section 160.638 to read as follows:

Sec. 160.638. ESTABLISHMENT OF PATERNITY FOR SOLE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING CHILD SUPPORT AND RESTITUTION OBLIGATIONS WHEN COMMISSION OF SEXUAL OFFENSE RESULTED IN PREGNANCY; PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP NOT ESTABLISHED. Notwithstanding any other law, the establishment under this subchapter of the paternity of a man whose commission of a sexual offense to which Article 56B.1045, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies resulted in the mother's pregnancy with the child is for the sole purpose of determining the man's child support obligation under Chapter 154 and the amount of restitution to be ordered under Article 56B.1045, Code of Criminal Procedure, and does not establish a parent-child relationship between the man and the child.

SECTION 11. Subchapter C, Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 161.025 to read as follows:

Sec. 161.025. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER DUTIES RELATED TO PREGNANT WOMEN. A health care provider providing services to a pregnant woman shall, at the time of the provider's first meeting with the woman during her pregnancy, provide the pregnant woman with written informational materials regarding the following laws:

(1) Article 42.0375, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(2) Article 56B.1045, Code of Criminal Procedure;

(3) Section 154.0091, Family Code;

(4) Section 154.122, Family Code; and

(5) Section 160.638, Family Code.

SECTION 12. Section 160.636(h), Family Code, is repealed.

SECTION 13. The changes in law made by this Act with respect to an order adjudicating paternity apply only to an order rendered on or after the effective date of this Act. An order adjudicating paternity rendered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the order is rendered, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act with respect to an acknowledgment of paternity apply only to an acknowledgment of paternity executed on or after the effective date of this Act. An acknowledgment of paternity executed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the acknowledgment is executed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 15. The changes in law made by Article 42.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by this Act, and Articles 42.01915 and 42.0375, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, apply only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 16. The change in law made by Article 56B.1045, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, applies only to compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring on or after the effective date of this Act. Compensation for criminally injurious conduct occurring before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, criminally injurious conduct occurred before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense underlying the conduct occurred before that date.

SECTION 17. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.