| 1 | 1 | | 87R7651 MLH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Dutton H.B. No. 1422 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the child support obligation of an obligor during the |
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| 8 | 8 | | obligor's confinement in jail or prison. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 157.162, Family Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (d) The court may not find a respondent in contempt of court |
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| 13 | 13 | | for failure to pay child support if the respondent, or the |
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| 14 | 14 | | respondent's attorney if the respondent is confined in jail or |
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| 15 | 15 | | prison at the time of the hearing, appears at the hearing and |
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| 16 | 16 | | presents credible evidence showing that: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) the unpaid child support accrued during the |
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| 18 | 18 | | obligor's confinement in a local, state, or federal jail or prison |
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| 19 | 19 | | for a period of at least 90 consecutive days, other than |
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| 20 | 20 | | confinement: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (A) for an offense constituting an act of family |
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| 22 | 22 | | violence, as defined by Section 71.004, committed against the |
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| 23 | 23 | | obligee or a child covered by the child support order; or |
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| 24 | 24 | | (B) resulting from the obligor's failure to |
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| 25 | 25 | | comply with a child support order; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2) the obligor did not have sufficient resources |
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| 27 | 27 | | available to comply with the child support order during the period |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the obligor's confinement. |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 2. Section 157.162(d), Family Code, as added by |
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| 30 | 30 | | this Act, applies to a hearing to enforce an order in a suit |
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| 31 | 31 | | affecting the parent-child relationship that commences on or after |
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| 32 | 32 | | the effective date of this Act. A hearing that commences before the |
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| 33 | 33 | | effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the |
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| 34 | 34 | | date the hearing commenced, and the former law is continued in |
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| 35 | 35 | | effect for that purpose. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |
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