88R5793 MLH-F
By: Sherman, Sr. H.B. No. 3332
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the child support obligation of certain obligors who
are or were incarcerated.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 154.001, Family Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
(a-2) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (a-1), if an
obligor's child support obligation has been suspended by the Title
IV-D agency under Section 231.1018, the obligor shall continue to
support the child as provided by the order until the 180th day after
the date the obligation would otherwise have ended under Subsection
(a) or (a-1), as applicable.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 154, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 154.017 to read as follows:
Sec. 154.017. CERTAIN INCARCERATED OBLIGORS. (a) Except
as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), if the court renders an
order under Chapter 160 establishing a man's paternity of a child
and the man is confined or imprisoned at the time the order is
rendered:
(1) the court shall defer rendering an order under
this chapter establishing the man's child support obligation until
the 180th day after the date the man is released from confinement or
imprisonment; and
(2) notwithstanding Section 154.131, the man's child
support obligation does not accrue before the 180th day described
by Subdivision (1).
(b) The court is not required to defer rendering an order as
provided by Subsection (a) if the court finds that the man has
sufficient financial resources to meet the man's child support
obligation during the man's confinement or imprisonment.
SECTION 3. Section 156.401, Family Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-3) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), or
(b), the court may modify an order that provides for the support of
a child, including an order for health care coverage under Section
154.182 or an order for dental care coverage under Section
154.1825, if:
(1) the circumstances of the child or a person
affected by the order have materially and substantially changed
since the earlier of:
(A) the date of the order's rendition; or
(B) the date of the signing of a mediated or
collaborative law settlement agreement on which the order is based;
or
(2) it has been three years since the order was
rendered or last modified and the monthly amount of the child
support award under the order differs by either 20 percent or $100
from the amount that would be awarded in accordance with the child
support guidelines.
(a-3) A child support order that has been suspended by the
Title IV-D agency under Section 231.1018 may not be modified before
the 180th day after the date the obligor is released from
confinement or imprisonment.
SECTION 4. Section 231.002(e), Family Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) The Title IV-D agency may take the following
administrative actions with respect to the location of a parent,
the determination of parentage, and the establishment,
modification, and enforcement of child support, medical support,
and dental support orders required by 42 U.S.C. Section 666(c),
without obtaining an order from any other judicial or
administrative tribunal:
(1) issue an administrative subpoena, as provided by
Section 231.303, to obtain financial or other information;
(2) order genetic testing for parentage
determination, as provided by Chapter 233;
(3) order income withholding, as provided by Chapter
233, and issue an administrative writ of withholding, as provided
by Chapter 158; [and]
(4) take any action with respect to execution,
collection, and release of a judgment or lien for child support
necessary to satisfy the judgment or lien, as provided by Chapter
157; and
(5) suspend the child support obligation of an obligor
released from confinement or imprisonment, as provided by Section
231.1018.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 231, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 231.1018 to read as follows:
Sec. 231.1018. ADMINISTRATIVE SUSPENSION OF SUPPORT
OBLIGATION FOR CERTAIN INCARCERATED OBLIGORS. (a) On verification
by the Title IV-D agency of the release from confinement or
imprisonment in a local, state, or federal jail or prison of a child
support obligor who was confined or imprisoned for a period of at
least 180 consecutive days, the Title IV-D agency shall
administratively suspend the obligor's child support, medical
support, and dental support order for a period of 180 days, during
which time no support obligation accrues.
(b) The Title IV-D agency must, for each administrative
suspension of a support obligation under Subsection (a):
(1) provide notice of the suspension to the parties to
the support order; and
(2) file a copy of the notice with the court of
continuing, exclusive jurisdiction.
(c) The notice provided under Subsection (b) must state:
(1) that the obligor's support obligation has been
suspended for a period of 180 days;
(2) the earliest date on which a court may modify the
order under Section 156.401(a-3); and
(3) the style and cause number of the case in which the
support order was rendered.
(d) The suspension of a support obligation under this
section takes effect immediately.
(e) The suspension of a support obligation under this
section does not affect a support obligation due before the
effective date of the administrative adjustment.
(f) The Title IV-D agency may adopt rules to implement this
section.
SECTION 6. (a) Section 154.017, Family Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to an order establishing paternity rendered
on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) Section 154.001, Family Code, as amended by this Act,
and Section 231.1018, Family Code, as added by this Act, apply only
to an obligor who is released from confinement or imprisonment on or
after the effective date of this Act.
(c) Section 156.401, Family Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to a suit for modification filed on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.