CHAPTER 234. STATE CASE REGISTRY, DISBURSEMENT UNIT, AND DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES
FAMILY CODE
TITLE 5. THE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP AND THE SUIT AFFECTING THE
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP
SUBTITLE D. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
CHAPTER 234. STATE CASE REGISTRY, DISBURSEMENT UNIT, AND
DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES
SUBCHAPTER A. UNIFIED STATE CASE REGISTRY AND DISBURSEMENT UNIT
Sec. 234.001. ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF STATE CASE REGISTRY
AND STATE DISBURSEMENT UNIT. (a) The Title IV-D agency shall
establish and operate a state case registry and state
disbursement unit meeting the requirements of 42 U.S.C. Sections
654a(e) and 654b and this subchapter.
(b) The state case registry shall maintain records of child
support orders in Title IV-D cases and in other cases in which a
child support order has been established or modified in this
state on or after October 1, 1998.
(c) The state disbursement unit shall:
(1) receive, maintain, and furnish records of child support
payments in Title IV-D cases and other cases as authorized by
law;
(2) forward child support payments as authorized by law;
(3) maintain records of child support payments made through the
state disbursement unit; and
(4) make available to a local registry each day in a manner
determined by the Title IV-D agency the following information:
(A) the cause number of the suit under which withholding is
required;
(B) the payor's name and social security number;
(C) the payee's name and, if available, social security number;
(D) the date the disbursement unit received the payment;
(E) the amount of the payment; and
(F) the instrument identification information.
(d) A certified child support payment record produced by the
state disbursement unit is admissible as evidence of the truth of
the information contained in the record and does not require
further authentication or verification.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff.
Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023, Sec. 69, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 58, eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 234.002. INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR CHILD SUPPORT AND MEDICAL
SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT. The statewide integrated system for child
support and medical support enforcement under Chapter 231 shall
be part of the state case registry and state disbursement unit
authorized by this subchapter.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff.
Sept. 1, 1999.
Sec. 234.004. CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. (a) The
Title IV-D agency may enter into contracts and cooperative
agreements as necessary to establish and operate the state case
registry and state disbursement unit authorized under this
subchapter.
(b) To the extent funds are available for this purpose, the
Title IV-D agency may enter into contracts or cooperative
agreements to process through the state disbursement unit child
support collections in cases not otherwise eligible under 42
U.S.C. Section 654b.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023, Sec. 70, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 234.006. RULEMAKING. The Title IV-D agency may adopt rules
in compliance with federal law for the operation of the state
case registry and the state disbursement unit.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff. Sept. 1,
1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1023, Sec. 71, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 59, eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 234.007. NOTICE OF PLACE OF PAYMENT. (a) The Title IV-D
agency shall notify the courts that the state disbursement unit
has been established. After receiving notice of the establishment
of the state disbursement unit, a court that orders income to be
withheld for child support shall order that all income withheld
for child support be paid to the state disbursement unit.
(b) In order to redirect payments from a local registry to the
state disbursement unit after the date of the establishment of
the state disbursement unit, the Title IV-D agency shall issue a
notice of place of payment informing the obligor, obligee, and
employer that income withheld for child support is to be paid to
the state disbursement unit.
(c) A copy of the notice under Subsection (b) shall be filed
with the court of continuing jurisdiction and with the local
child support registry.
(d) The notice under Subsection (b) must include:
(1) the name of the child for whom support is ordered and of the
person to whom support is ordered by the court to be paid;
(2) the style and cause number of the case in which support is
ordered; and
(3) instructions for the payment of ordered support to the state
disbursement unit.
(e) On receipt of a copy of the notice under Subsection (b), the
clerk of the court shall file the notice in the appropriate case
file.
(f) The notice under Subsection (b) may be used by the Title
IV-D agency to redirect child support payments from the state
disbursement unit of this state to the state disbursement unit of
another state.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff. Sept. 1,
1999. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1247, Sec. 45, eff.
Sept. 1, 2003.
Sec. 234.008. DEPOSIT, DISTRIBUTION, AND ISSUANCE OF PAYMENTS.
(a) Not later than the second business day after the date the
state disbursement unit receives a child support payment, the
state disbursement unit shall distribute the payment to the Title
IV-D agency or the obligee.
(b) The state disbursement unit shall deposit daily all child
support payments in a trust fund with the state comptroller.
Subject to the agreement of the comptroller, the state
disbursement unit may issue checks from the trust fund.
(c) Repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 972, Sec. 65(5),
eff. September 1, 2007.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 972, Sec. 65(5),
eff. September 1, 2007.
(e) Repealed by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 972, Sec. 65(5),
eff. September 1, 2007.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff. Sept. 1,
1999. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1262, Sec. 4, eff.
Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch.
1232, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 60, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 65(5), eff. September 1, 2007.
Sec. 234.009. OFFICIAL CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENT RECORD. (a) The
record of child support payments maintained by a local registry
is the official record of a payment received directly by the
local registry.
(b) The record of child support payments maintained by the state
disbursement unit is the official record of a payment received
directly by the unit.
(c) After the date child support payments formerly received by a
local registry are redirected to the state disbursement unit, a
local registry may accept a record of payments furnished by the
state disbursement unit and may add the payments to the record of
payments maintained by the local registry so that a complete
payment record is available for use by the court.
(d) If the local registry does not add payments received by the
state disbursement unit to the record maintained by the registry
as provided by Subsection (c), the official record of child
support payments consists of the record maintained by the local
registry for payments received directly by the registry and the
record maintained by the state disbursement unit for payments
received directly by the unit.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 556, Sec. 68, eff. Sept. 1,
1999.
Sec. 234.0091. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENT
RECORD. (a) On request, the state disbursement unit shall
provide to an obligor or obligee a copy of the record of child
support payments maintained by the unit. The record must include
the amounts and dates of all payments received from or on behalf
of the obligor and disbursed to the obligee.
(b) An obligor or obligee may request that the Title IV-D agency
investigate an alleged discrepancy between the child support
payment record provided by the state disbursement unit under
Subsection (a) and the payment records maintained by the obligor
or obligee. The obligor or obligee making the request must
provide to the Title IV-D agency documentation of the alleged
discrepancy, including a canceled check or other evidence of a
payment or disbursement at issue.
(c) The Title IV-D agency shall respond to a request under
Subsection (b) not later than the 20th day after the date the
agency receives the request. If, after an investigation, the
agency determines that the child support payment record
maintained by the state disbursement unit should be amended, the
state disbursement unit shall immediately make the required
amendment to the record and notify the obligor or obligee who
made the request under Subsection (b) of that amendment.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1085, Sec. 1, eff. June 20,
2003.
Sec. 234.010. DIRECT DEPOSIT AND ELECTRONIC BENEFITS TRANSFER OF
CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS. (a) The state disbursement unit
authorized under this chapter may make a direct deposit of a
child support payment to an obligee by electronic funds transfer
into an account with a financial institution maintained by the
obligee. It is the responsibility of the obligee to notify the
state disbursement unit of:
(1) the existence of an account;
(2) the appropriate routing information for direct deposit by
electronic funds transfer into an account; and
(3) any modification to account information previously provided
to the state disbursement unit, including information that an
account has been closed.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the state disbursement
unit shall deposit a child support payment by electronic funds
transfer into a debit card account established for the obligee by
the Title IV-D agency if the obligee:
(1) does not maintain an account with a financial institution;
(2) fails to notify the state disbursement unit of the existence
of an account maintained with a financial institution; or
(3) closes an account maintained with a financial institution
previously used to accept direct deposit of a child support
payment without establishing a new account and notifying the
state disbursement unit of the new account in accordance with
Subsection (a).
(c) The Title IV-D agency shall:
(1) issue a debit card to each obligee for whom a debit card
account is established under Subsection (b); and
(2) provide the obligee with instructions for activating and
using the debit card.
(c-1) Chapter 604, Business & Commerce Code, does not apply
to a debit card issued under Subsection (c).
(d) An obligee may decline in writing to receive child support
payments by electronic funds transfer into an account with a
financial institution or a debit card account and request that
payments be provided by paper warrants if the obligee alleges
that receiving payments by electronic funds transfer would impose
a substantial hardship.
(e) A child support payment disbursed by the state disbursement
unit by electronic funds transfer into an account with a
financial institution maintained by the obligee or into a debit
card account established for the obligee under Subsection (b) is
solely the property of the obligee.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 6, Sept. 1, 1999.
Renumbered from Sec. 234.006 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420,
Sec. 21.001(33), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
551, Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.
767, Sec. 30, eff. June 19, 2009.
Sec. 234.012. RELEASE OF INFORMATION FROM STATE CASE REGISTRY.
Unless prohibited by a court in accordance with Section
105.006(c), the state case registry shall, on request and to the
extent permitted by federal law, provide the information required
under Sections 105.006 and 105.008 in any case included in the
registry under Section 234.001(b) to:
(1) any party to the proceeding;
(2) an amicus attorney;
(3) an attorney ad litem;
(4) a friend of the court;
(5) a guardian ad litem;
(6) a domestic relations office;
(7) a prosecuting attorney or juvenile court acting in a
proceeding under Title 3; or
(8) a governmental entity or court acting in a proceeding under
Chapter 262.
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 61, eff. September 1, 2007.
SUBCHAPTER B. STATE DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES
Sec. 234.101. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(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)). 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.
(2) "Employer" has the meaning given that term by Section
3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section
3401(d)) and includes a governmental entity and a labor
organization, as that term is identified in Section 2(5) of the
National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. Section 152(5)),
including an entity, also known as a "hiring hall," used by the
labor organization and an employer to carry out requirements of
an agreement between the organization and an employer described
in Section 8(f)(3) of that Act (29 U.S.C. Section 158(f)(3)).
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997.
Sec. 234.102. OPERATION OF NEW HIRE DIRECTORY. In cooperation
with the Texas Workforce Commission, the Title IV-D agency shall
develop and operate a state directory to which employers in the
state shall report each newly hired or rehired employee in
accordance with the requirements of 42 U.S.C. Section 653a.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 178, Sec. 12, eff.
Aug. 30, 1999.
Sec. 234.103. CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. The Title
IV-D agency may enter into cooperative agreements and contracts
as necessary to create and operate the directory authorized under
this subchapter.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 178, Sec. 13, eff.
Aug. 30, 1999.
Sec. 234.104. PROCEDURES. The Title IV-D agency by rule shall
establish procedures for reporting employee information and for
operating a state directory of new hires meeting the requirements
of federal law.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 911, Sec. 94, eff. Sept. 1,
1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 178, Sec. 14, eff.
Aug. 30, 1999.
Sec. 234.105. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) In addition to any other
remedy provided by law, an employer who knowingly violates a
procedure adopted under Section 234.104 for reporting employee
information may be liable for a civil penalty as permitted by
Section 453A(d) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
Section 653a).
(b) The amount of the civil penalty may not exceed:
(1) $25 for each occurrence in which an employer fails to report
an employee; or
(2) $500 for each occurrence in which the conduct described by
Subdivision (1) is the result of a conspiracy between the
employer and an employee to not supply a required report or to
submit a false or incomplete report.
(c) The attorney general may sue to collect the civil penalty.
A penalty collected under this section shall be deposited in a
special fund in the state treasury.
Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.
972, Sec. 62, eff. September 1, 2007.