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.