Thursday, February 11, 2010

Attorney General of Texas
Greg Abbott

40 parents arrested in this week’s sweep of parents who failed to pay child support

AUSTIN – Travis County Precinct 5 Constable Bruce Elfant this week arrested 40 Travis County parents who violated court orders requiring them to pay child support. The countywide sweep was conducted in conjunction with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s Child Support Division.

"Parents have a moral and legal obligation to make regular child support payments," Attorney General Abbott said. "By collecting child support, we are ensuring young Texans have the resources they need to grow healthy and strong. We are grateful to Constable Bruce Elfant for his commitment to Texas children."

Constable Elfant kicked off the operation at 5 a.m. Monday morning by dispatching six teams of deputy constables to track down parents who are wanted for contempt of court as a result of their failure to pay court ordered child support. Child Support Division investigators assisted Constable Elfant by providing logistical assistance locating missing parents. This week’s effort resulted in the arrest of 40 parents whose failure to support their children violated the law. A total of 126 parents have been arrested since the beginning of the year, when roundup preparation began.

Delinquent parents arrested on civil warrants face up to six months in jail. Cash bonds posted by delinquent parents seeking release from jail are paid to the custodial parents and children who are owed back child support.

Parents who have fallen behind on their child support payments – but are not subject to warrants for their arrest – should immediately contact the Attorney General’s Child Support Division at (800) 252-8014 to make payment arrangements.

Under state and federal law, the Office of the Attorney General can assist families who request child support services and must serve families who currently receive or have received public assistance. Services offered by the Child Support Division include locating absent parents; establishing paternity for children born to unmarried parents; establishing, enforcing, and modifying child and medical support orders; and collecting and distributing child support payments.

Statewide, child support collected by the Office of the Attorney General exceeded $2.78 billion for the state fiscal year that ended Aug. 31, 2009. The Attorney General’s Travis County child support offices collected $122.3 million of that amount.

By Rachel Burkhart
Daily Texan Staff

Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder speaks at the Census Rally on the West Mall, which was organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Student African American Brotherhood. The rally speakers noted that underrepresentation by the U.S. Census Bureau has been kept Texas from receiving its due allocation of funds for worthy causes.

Each University student who fails to complete the 2010 U.S. census may cost Travis County about $1,500 per year.

UT students from the Student African American Brotherhood, Alpha Kappa Alpha and the Longhorn League of United Latin American Citizens hosted the 2010 Census Coalition Rally on Tuesday to raise awareness and encourage student participation in the 2010 census.

The rally featured games, literature on the 2010 census and speeches from Student Government President Liam O’Rourke and Dawnna Dukes, a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a nationwide census be conducted every 10 years.

Participation in the census is federally mandated, but there is still a chance that some citizens will go uncounted. The federal government uses census data to determine state funding and representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A study conducted in 2001 by crisis-management and risk-assessment consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the 2000 census underestimated the population of Travis County by 15,732 people. According to the study, this resulted in a loss of $235.98 million in federal funding usually given for community development, housing, education, transportation, social services, employment and other public initiatives.

"I tell people there’s 235 million reasons for you to fill out the census when you get it," Travis County Constable Bruce Elfant said.

Elfant said Texas could get as many as four new seats in the House of Representatives, the most of any state in the nation, if the census shows there has been a population increase. One of the new districts might be located in Travis County, he said.

"Travis is the largest county in the country that doesn’t have its own congressional district," Elfant said. "We’re large enough to have a member of Congress who pays a hundred percent attention to us."

Dukes said the census is an important component in building stronger communities and ensuring greater political representation for Texans.

"Texans like to think they’re bigger and better, and if we want to be bigger and better represented in Washington, we need to make sure that this census is complete and accurate," she said. "Then we can be sure that we gain two, three, four seats in Washington."

Students, undocumented residents and the homeless were the most underrepresented people in the last census, Elfant said.

He said students, regardless of where they are originally from, must fill out the survey and not rely on their parents.

"The rule is that you fill out the form where your pillow is on April 1," he said, referring to the date the census is due.

Melissa Macaya, journalism and Plan II junior and parliamentarian and community-service chair for Longhorn LULAC, said the rally would help improve the accuracy of the count by promoting student and illegal immigrant participation.

Census data remains confidential for 72 years and cannot be used to enforce immigration laws. The 10-question survey does not ask for any information regarding a worker’s documentation, Macaya said.

The census forms will be distributed by mail in mid-March and are due by April 1. Census workers will visit those residences that fail to complete the census by the April 1 deadline and administer the surveys in person.

The Central Texas Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASAP) presented the Office of Travis County Constable Bruce Elfant with the 2009 Public Innovation award for the Constable Protective Order Alert System that instantly notifies litigants when process is served. "Your tireless work as Travis County Constable for Precinct Five is a prime example of what a public servant should be," said ASPA Vice President Dustin McLemore.

"We are very honored to receive this prestigious award," said Constable Bruce Elfant. Especially in family violence cases, litigants need to know when process is served so they can take appropriate action to prevent any harm to property or persons," Elfant said.

Travis County Constable Bruce Eflant joined by members from the Governor"s Commission on People with Disabilities, the Austin Mayor"s Commission on People with Disabilities and Advocacy Incorporated today urged Texas legislators to increase fines for illegally parking in handicap spaces. During a recent sting, Travis County deputy constables wrote 22 handicap parking tickets around the State Capitol Complex for the offense of using another person"s parking placard. Twenty of those tickets were written to state employees. "It is outrageous that so many state employees are using another person"s placard to avoid paying for parking," said Constable Elfant. "They are preventing others from using these spaces and they are "stealing" from the state and the city."

Constable Elfant cited a recent study conducted by his office that determined 65% of those who use handicap parking placards to park in the downtown area are actually using someone else"s placard in order to park for free at parking meters. It was estimated the City of Austin is losing as much as $500,000 per year in meter revenue. Last year, Dallas reported they were losing about 1.3 million per year. "This abuse is not just occurring at the State Capitol," said Elfant. "It is occurring throughout Texas and violators have stated to deputies that receiving two or three tickets per year would still be significantly cheaper than paying for parking."

All speakers urged the Texas Legislature to implement the recommendations of the House Interim Committee on Transportation and the Governor"s Commission on People with Disabilities to increase handicap parking fines – at least for the offense of using another"s placard. SB 52 by Senator Judith Zaffirini contains the recommended fine increase. HB 3095 by Representative Patricia Harless was amended to remove increased fines for the first offense of placard misuse. "Until the penalty for using grandma"s or someone else"s placard exceeds the cost of parking, state employees and others will continue to take their chances on getting caught while denying access for people for whom these spaces were intended," stressed Elfant.

By: Catie Beck
News 8 Austin

Severe arthritis makes it tough for driver Paul Tannous to get around. It’s even tougher for him to find a place to park.

"All the places are always full and the people get out and they’re not handicapped," Tannous said.

It’s a problem that happens often enough for Travis County to police it. Most commonly, drivers will use someone else’s blue placard to get parking spots marked for people with disabilities.

"We’ve seen placards sold at flea markets and we’ve seen placards sold on eBay," Travis County Constable Bruce Elfant said.

It’s a crime and the county constable said it happens all the time for no good reason.

"To save a few steps or, in the case of parking at the meters, to save a few dollars," Elfant said.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, is putting the matter in state hands by passing a bill to put tougher penalties in place.

"This is not a victimless crime," she said. "There were some people who thought the fines were too high … they’re not."

In the bill, the penalty goes up with the number of offenses. By a third offense, community service is tacked on to the penalty.

Tannous said the bill will serve his community well.

"Let them know that other people need that parking," Tannous said.

According to the Travis County Constable office’s, curing the first six-months of Fiscal Year 2005-06, Handicap Parking Enforcement Volunteers issued 294 tickets and the handicapped parking deputy issued 284 tickets for a total of 578 tickets.

Zaffarini’s bill passed through the Senate chamber Wednesday.

She expects to have strong support as her bill moves over to the House.