S.B. No. 1727
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