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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the enforcement of an order to pay child support by |
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contempt. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 157.162, Family Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (d) to read as follows: |
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(d) If a respondent appears at the hearing for failure to |
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pay child support with a copy of the payment record or other |
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evidence satisfactory to the court showing that the respondent is |
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current in the payment of child support as ordered by the court, the |
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court may hold the respondent in contempt but may not punish the |
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respondent by confinement unless, in the 24 months preceding the |
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date of the hearing, the respondent has been held in contempt of |
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court for failure to pay child support. |
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SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a |
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hearing to enforce an order in a suit affecting the parent-child |
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relationship that commences on or after the effective date of this |
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Act. A hearing that commences before the effective date of this Act |
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is governed by the law in effect on the date the hearing commenced, |
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and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2015. |