Hon. Don Nugetit 

Dlstrlct~~Attornel 

109th Judi&el' Diatrlct~: 

P:O. BOX 1076 ~.' 

Kermit, Texas 

Opinion No. c-634 

Re: Questions relating to the 

~clvll and criminal enforcement of support orders, and 

to Article 2328b-4, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, Acts 59th 

Legislature, 1965, Chi 679, 

'page 1561, ,the new Texas 

'Uniform Reciprocal Enforcewar Mr. Nug&t’:.’ ,~ :.I I: .’ ment of Subport'Act. 

You:-hatiti.tiei@etited our oplnlon as to the answers to 

questions'-rel%ting,to;,fne. civll~'iand~criminal enforcement of 

support order&'andj.to.Artlcle 2328b-4, ‘Vernon'.s 'Civil Statutes, Acts. 59th Legislature, 1965, Ch. 679, page~l561, the 

new Texas Unlf+r@'Reciprocal &$orcemen$ of Support Act. 

,~, ., 

Your"'firiet'j..q~estlon'may be stated as follows: 

to,subjeot the defendant to~.such terms ,and 

'ccdn'd~tiona~sas'~he~ cotit may deem proper to 

~aiih.i~~~cc&i@f.afio'e wth its ‘order@ a$ in 

~.partloul'arr~ ‘,. Y. ~. ~' .' 8 

." . . ),'- 

-3078- 
. , 

Hon. Don Nugent. page 2 (C-634) 

vlola;~c;n, 

Y 

Tyz$;h t”; ‘~~;~d;=&$-;;ll 

extent as is provided by law for contempt of 

the court In any other suit or proceeding 

cognizable by the court." (Emphasis supplikd) 

The above quoted portion of Article 2328b-4 reveals 

that the Legislature did not contemplate that a second petltlon from the 'lnltiatlng state would be necessary In order 

for the Texas court ,to enforce Its order by contempt proceedings. 

Your remaining questions are set out In the body of 

your request as Sbllows: 

"II. The new law suggested perhaps 

that before a criminal complaint is fll.ed 

and extradition a.pplied for that there 

should have been resort to the civil portion of thlB act at least ninety days before the criminal action is initiated. 

"1. My question is should we as a 

matttir of form resort to the civil action 

first, then wait ninety days before filing 

the criminal complaint and asking for extradition? 

‘l.2. My next question 1s FS, In fact, 

we make application for extradition wl.thout 

the prior civil action being Inaugurated 

and the extradition papers are approved and 

signed by the Governor, Is It safe to assume that the ninety day compliance will not 

be required? 

There is no ninety day period mentioned In Article 

2328b-4 in the connection which you Buggest. However, 

Section 5 of Article 2328b-4 does allow the Governor to 

seek extradition to enforce support pa 

r 

ents due Texas resldenta, and Section 6 of Article 2328b- provides as follows: 

"sec. 6. (a) Before making the demand 

on the Governoi. of any other state for the 

surrender of a person charged In this State 

with the crime of falling to provide for the 

support of any person, the Governoti of thls 

State may require any prosecuting attorney 

of this State to satisfy him that at least 

-3079- 
Ron. Don Nugent, page 3 (c-634) 

sixty (60) days prior thereto the obligee 

brought an action Sdr'the support under this 

Act, or that the bringing of an action would 

be of no avail. 

'(b) When under this or a substantially 

similar Act, a~ demand Is made upon the Governor 

of this State by the~Governor of another state 

for the surrender of a person charged in the 

other 8tat.e wl.th the crime of falling to brovlde support, the Governor may call upon any 

prosecuting attorney to Investigate or assist 

in Investigating the demand, and to report to 

him whether any action for support has been 

brought under this Act or would be effective. 

"(c) IS any action for the support would 

be effective and no action has been brought, the 

Governor may delay honoring the demand for a 

reasonable time to permit prosecution of an 

action for support. 

"(d) If an actions for support has been 

brought and the person demanded has prevailed 

in that action, the Governor may decline to 

honor the demand. 

"(e) If an action for support has been 

brought and pursuant thereto the person demanded Is subject to a support order, the Governor 

may decline to honor the demand 80 longas the 

person demanded,ls ~complylng with the support 

order." 

Criminal and extradition proceedings proved highly 

unsatisfactory as a method of enforcing child support against 

a defendant who crossed state lines; hence the enactment of 

the uniform reciprocal enforcement of support legislation by 

the states. It was primarily for this reason that the National 

Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the 

American Bar Association recommended to the states the adoption 

of said Act. Commissioners' Prefatory Note to the Uniform 

Reciprocal Enforcement of Su port Act, Handbook of Commissioners 

:on Uniform State Laws, (19507, page 171. The purpose of 

Article 232tlb-4 and analogous legislation adopted by other 

states, as shown by the Commissioner's Prefatory Note to the 

Model Act, supra, was not to punish a defendant, but to force 

him to meet his legal obligations to support his dependants. 

Jailing the Defendant or extraditing him does not directly 

-3080- 
Hon. Don Nugent, page 4~ (C-634) 

serve the purpose of supporting the dependants or of relieving 

the states from a burden on their welfare rolls. Therefore, 

the criminal sections of Article 23?8b-4'were Intended only to 

be used If the bringing of a o1vll action would be of no avail, 

or after civil action has felled to produce results. 

It Is our opinion that, In most Instances, It would be 

advisable to bring a civll'actlon before crlmlnal extradition 

proceedings are brought - not as a matter of form, but because 

by a civil proceeding the purpose of Article 2328b-4 18 more 

directly served. 

The Governor In his discretion need not reaulre prior 

resort to the civil courts as a condition precedent to his 

honoring the demand for extradition. However, If a civil action 

Is not brought you may not safely assume'that extradition will 

be honored, since the Governor of a responding state, acting 

under legislative enactments similar to Article 2328b-4 

may require an attempt to be made tc secure relief through a 

civil action before he will honor the demand for extradition. 

1. 

2. 

SUMMARY 

Having entered an order under Article 

2328b-4, V.C.S., aga1nst.a looal resident to enforce a support order of an 

out-of-state court, the T!eXaS Court 

may.enSorce that order - through contempt proceedings if necessary - on its 

own motion and without a new complaint 

being filed by the initiating state. 

Smooth processing of an action upon 

extradition papers filed under Artlole 

2328b-4, V.C.S.,, can best be obtained 

if a bona fide attempt to collect back 

payments by civil process under the 

olvll sections of Article 2328b-4 has 

proceeded the filing of extradition 

papers by a period of at least sixty 

days. 

Very truly yours, 

WAGGCNFR CARR 

Attorney General of Texas 

-3081- 
Ron. Bon Nugent, page 5 (C-634) 

B 

orney General 

LJC:om 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Sam Kelley 

Douglas Chllton 

JohnBanks 

Charles Bardwell 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

By: T. B. Wright 

-308%