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Texas Family Code - Section 154.241. Local Registry

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§ 154.241. LOCAL REGISTRY.  (a) A local registry shall 
receive a court-ordered child support payment or a payment 
otherwise authorized by law and shall forward the payment, as 
appropriate, to the Title IV-D agency, local domestic relations 
office, or obligee within two working days after the date the local 
registry receives the payment.
	(b)  A local registry may not require an obligor, obligee, or 
other party or entity to furnish a certified copy of a court order 
as a condition of processing child support payments and shall 
accept as sufficient authority to process the payments a photocopy, 
facsimile copy, or conformed copy of the court's order.
	(c)  A local registry shall include with each payment it 
forwards to the Title IV-D agency the date it received the payment 
and the withholding date furnished by the employer.
	(d)  A local registry shall accept child support payments 
made by personal check, money order, or cashier's check.  A local 
registry may refuse payment by personal check if a pattern of abuse 
regarding the use of personal checks has been established.  Abuse 
includes checks drawn on insufficient funds, abusive or offensive 
language written on the check, intentional mutilation of the 
instrument, or other actions that delay or disrupt the registry's 
operation.
	(e)  Subject to Section 154.004, at the request of an 
obligee, a local registry shall redirect and forward a child 
support payment to an address and in care of a person or entity 
designated by the obligee.  A local registry may require that the 
obligee's request be in writing or be made on a form provided by the 
local registry for that purpose, but may not charge a fee for 
receiving the request or redirecting the payments as requested.
	(f)  A local registry may accept child support payments made 
by credit card, debit card, or automatic teller machine card.
	(g)  Notwithstanding any other law, a private entity may 
perform the duties and functions of a local registry under this 
section either under a contract with a county commissioners court 
or domestic relations office executed under Section 204.002 or 
under an appointment by a court.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, § 1, eff. April 20, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 751, § 42, eff. Sept. 1, 
1995;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 645, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 740, § 2, eff. June 17, 2005.

Last modified: August 11, 2007