SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 910
89TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 104.540, RSMo 1994, and sections 193.215, 287.820, 454.390, 454.408, 454.413, 454.440, 454.455, 454.460 and 476.688, RSMo Supp. 1997, relating to child support, and to enact in lieu thereof ten new sections relating to the same subject.
Section A. Section 104.540, RSMo 1994, and sections 193.215, 287.820, 454.390, 454.408, 454.413, 454.440, 454.455, 454.460 and 476.688, RSMo Supp. 1997, are repealed and ten new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 104.540, 193.215, 287.820, 454.390, 454.408, 454.413, 454.440, 454.455, 454.460 and 476.688, to read as follows:
104.540. 1. All premium payments and deferred compensation provided for [under] pursuant to sections 104.320 to 104.540 are hereby made obligations of the state of Missouri. No alteration, amendment, or repeal of sections 104.320 to 104.540 shall affect the then existing rights of members and beneficiaries, but shall be effective only as to rights which would otherwise accrue hereunder as a result of services rendered by an employee after such alteration, amendment[,] or repeal.
2. Any annuity, benefits, funds, property[,] or rights created by, or accruing or paid to, any person [under] pursuant to the provisions of sections 104.320 to 104.540 shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, writ of sequestration[,] or any other process or claim whatsoever, and shall be unassignable, except [that] with regard to the collection of child support or maintenance. Any retired member of the system may request the executive director of the system, in writing, to withhold and pay on [his] such member's behalf to the proper person, from each of [his] such member's monthly retirement benefit payments, if the payment is large enough, the contribution due from the retired member to any group providing prepaid hospital care and any group providing prepaid medical and surgical care and any group providing life insurance when such group is composed entirely of members of the system.
3. The executive director of the system shall, when requested in writing by a retired member, withhold and pay over the funds authorized in subsection 2 of this section until such time as the request to do so is revoked by the death or written revocation of the retired member.
193.215. 1. A certificate or report registered pursuant to sections 193.005 to 193.325 may be amended only pursuant to the provisions of sections 193.005 to 193.325, and regulations adopted by the department.
2. A certificate or report that is amended pursuant to this section shall be marked "Amended" except as otherwise provided in this section. The date of amendment and a summary description of the evidence submitted in support of the amendment shall be endorsed on or made part of the record.
3. Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of such person or such person's parents, guardian, or legal representative, the state registrar shall amend the certificate of birth to show the new name. The court order shall include such facts as are necessary to locate and identify the certificate of birth of the person whose name is being changed.
4. When an applicant does not submit the minimum documentation required in the regulations for amending a vital record or when the state registrar has reasonable cause to question the validity or adequacy of the applicant's sworn statements or the documentary evidence, and if the deficiencies are not corrected, the state registrar shall not amend the vital record and shall advise the applicant of the reason for this action and the applicant's right of appeal to a court of competent jurisdiction.
5. When a certificate or report is amended pursuant to this section, the state registrar shall report the amendment to any other custodians of the vital record and their record shall be amended accordingly.
6. Upon written request of both parents and receipt of a sworn acknowledgment of paternity notarized and signed by both parents of a child born out of wedlock, the state registrar shall amend the certificate of birth to show such paternity. The acknowledgment affidavit form shall be developed by the state registrar and shall include the minimum requirements prescribed by the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 652(a)(7). The acknowledgment form shall include provisions to allow the parents to change the surname of the child and such surname shall be changed on the birth record if the parents elect to change the child's surname. The signature of the parents shall be notarized or the signature shall be witnessed by at least two disinterested adults whose signatures and addresses shall be plainly written thereon. The form shall be accompanied by oral notice, which may be provided through the use of video or audio equipment, and written notice to the mother and putative father of:
(1) The alternatives to, the legal consequences of, and the rights and responsibilities that arise from signing the acknowledgment;
(2) The benefits of having the child's paternity established; and
(3) The availability of paternity establishment and child support enforcement services. A rescission of acknowledgment form shall be filed with the bureau of vital records pursuant to section 210.823, RSMo, to vacate the legal finding of paternity. The bureau shall file all rescissions and forward a copy of each to the division of child support enforcement. The birth record shall only be changed pursuant to this subsection upon an order of the court or the division of child support enforcement.
7. The department shall offer voluntary paternity establishment services.
8. Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction changing the name of a person born in this state and upon request of such person or such person's parents, guardian or legal representative, the state registrar shall amend the certificate of birth to show the new name.
9. Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction indicating the sex of an individual born in this state has been changed by surgical procedure and that such individual's name has been changed, the certificate of birth of such individual shall be amended.
287.820. 1. Retirement benefits shall be paid to the retired person in equal monthly installments during the remainder of the person's life. The annual amount of benefits paid shall be equal to fifty percent of the highest salary received during the person's period of service.
2. Except as provided in section 104.312, RSMo, any annuity, benefits, funds, property or rights created by, or accruing to, any person [under] pursuant to the provisions of sections 287.812 to 287.855 shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, writ of sequestration, or any other process or claim whatsoever, and shall be unassignable, except [that] with regard to the collection of child support or maintenance. Any retired member of the system may request the executive director of the system, in writing, to withhold and pay on the retired member's behalf to the proper person, from each of the retired member's monthly retirement benefit payments, if the payment is large enough, the contribution due from the retired member to any group providing prepaid hospital care and any group providing prepaid medical and surgical care when such group is composed entirely of members of the system.
3. The executive director of the system shall, when requested in writing by a retired member, withhold and pay over the funds authorized in subsection 2 of this section until such time as the request to do so is revoked by the death or written revocation of the retired member.
4. Beginning January 1, 1989, any person who was employed prior to August 28, 1997, who is receiving or thereafter shall receive retirement benefits pursuant to sections 287.812 to 287.855 upon application to the board of trustees of the Missouri state employees' retirement system shall be made, constituted, appointed, and employed by the board as a special consultant on the problems of retirement, aging and other state matters for the remainder of the person's life. Upon request of the board or the court from which the person retired, the consultant shall give opinions or be available to give opinions in writing or orally in response to such requests. As compensation the consultant shall receive in addition to all other compensation provided by law a percentage increase in compensation each year computed upon the total amount that the consultant received in the previous year from state retirement benefits of eighty percent of the increase in the consumer price index calculated in the manner specified in section 104.415, RSMo. Any such annual increase in compensation, however, shall not exceed five percent, nor be less than four percent. The total increase in compensation pursuant to the provisions of this subsection to each special consultant who also receives benefits pursuant to sections 287.812 to 287.855 shall not exceed sixty-five percent of the initial benefit that the person receives after August 31, 1987. The total increase in compensation pursuant to the provisions of this subsection to each special consultant who also receives benefits pursuant to sections 287.812 to 287.855 shall not exceed sixty-five percent of the initial benefit that the person receives after January 1, 1989.
5. As additional compensation for the services described in subsection 4 of this section, each special consultant shall receive an annual percentage increase in the retirement benefit payable equal to eighty percent of the increase in the consumer price index. Such benefit increase, however, shall not exceed five percent of the retirement benefit payable prior to the increase. The annual benefit increase described in this subsection shall not be effective until the year in which the special consultant reaches the limit on total annual increases provided by subsection 4 of this section. During that year on the anniversary date of the special consultant's retirement, the special consultant shall receive the benefit increase described in subsection 4 of this section or this subsection, whichever is greater. After that year, the special consultant shall receive the annual benefit increase described in this subsection. Any special consultant who reaches the limit on total annual benefit increases provided by subsection 4 of this section prior to October 1, 1996, shall receive the benefit increase described in this subsection on September 1, 1997. Any special consultant who reaches the limit on total annual benefit increases provided by subsection 4 of this section on or after October 1, 1996, but before September 1, 1997, shall receive the benefit increase described in this subsection beginning on the anniversary date of the special consultant's retirement following September 1, 1997. In no event shall any retroactive annual benefit increases be paid under this subsection to any special consultant who reached the limit provided in subsection 4 of this section prior to August 28, 1997.
6. Each person who is employed for the first time as an administrative law judge or a legal advisor on or after August 28, 1997, and retires shall be entitled annually to a percentage increase in the retirement benefit payable equal to eighty percent of the increase in the consumer price index. Such benefit increase, however, shall not exceed five percent of the retirement benefit payable prior to the increase.
7. Survivors of members described in subsection 6 of this section shall be entitled to the annual benefit increase described in subsection 6 of this section.
8. The compensation provided for in this section shall be payable in equal monthly installments and shall be consolidated with any retirement benefits. The compensation shall be paid from the retirement fund. The retirement fund shall be funded on an actuarial basis for such benefits as prescribed in section 287.845.
454.390. The division shall [respond within five business days to] use high-volume automated administrative enforcement, to the same extent as used in intrastate cases, in response to a request made by another state child support agency to enforce a support order and promptly report the results to the requesting state. If the division provides assistance to another state in such a case, neither this state nor the requesting state shall consider the case to be transferred to its caseload; however, the division shall maintain records of the number of such interstate requests for assistance, the number of cases for which support was collected and the amounts of such collections. The division is authorized to transmit to another state, by electronic or other means, a request for assistance in a case involving the enforcement of a support order. Such request shall:
(1) Include information to enable the receiving state to compare the information about the case to the information in state databases; and
(2) Constitute a certification by the division of the arrearage amount under the order and that the division has complied with all applicable procedural due process requirements as provided for in this chapter.
454.408. The division of child support enforcement:
(1) Shall determine whether a person who has applied for or is receiving assistance from a program funded pursuant to Part A or Part E of Title IV [or] of the Social Security Act, Title XIX of the Social Security Act or the Food Stamp Act is cooperating in good faith with the division in establishing the paternity of, or in establishing, modifying or enforcing a support order for any child of such person by providing the division with the name of the noncustodial parent or any other information the division may require. The division may, by regulation, excuse compliance with the provisions of this subsection on a case-by-case basis for good cause or other exceptions as the division may deem to be in the best interest of the child;
(2) Shall require as a condition of cooperation that such person supply additional information deemed necessary by the division and appear at any interviews, hearings or legal proceedings;
(3) Shall require as a condition of cooperation that such person and such person's child submit to genetic testing pursuant to a judicial or administrative order;
(4) May request that such person sign a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, after notice of the rights and consequences of such an acknowledgment, but may not require such person to sign an acknowledgment or otherwise relinquish the right to a genetic test as a condition of cooperation and eligibility for assistance from a state program funded pursuant to Part A or Part E of Title IV [or] of the Social Security Act, Title XIX of the Social Security Act or the Food Stamp Act; and
(5) Shall promptly notify such person, the division of family services or the division of medical services of every determination made pursuant to this section, including a determination that such person is not cooperative and the basis for such determination.
454.413. 1. Each party to a paternity or child support proceeding establishing, modifying or enforcing a support order pursuant to chapter 210, RSMo, chapter 211, RSMo, chapter 452, RSMo, or chapter 454, shall file with the court or division where such proceeding is pending, and with the court or division for the state case registry upon entry of an order, information on the location and identity of such party including the party's social security number, residential address, mailing address, telephone number, driver's license number and the name, address and telephone number of the party's employer. If such information changes, such party shall provide the new information to the [court or division] state case registry within thirty days of any such change.
2. In any subsequent child support enforcement action between the parties, the court or division [may] shall deem that the due process requirements for notice and service of process are met with respect to such party upon a sufficient showing that diligent effort has been made to ascertain the location of a party, and written notice has been delivered to the most recent residential or employer address of such party filed with the [court or division] state case registry.
454.440. 1. As used in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Business" includes any corporation, partnership, association, individual, and labor or other organization including, but not limited to, a public utility or cable company;
(2) "Division", the Missouri division of child support enforcement of the department of social services;
(3) "Financial entity" includes any bank, trust company, savings and loan association, credit union, insurance company, or any corporation, association, partnership, or individual receiving or accepting money or its equivalent on deposit as a business;
(4) "Government agency", any department, board, bureau or other agency of this state or any political subdivision of the state;
(5) "Information" includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following items:
(a) Full name of the parent;
(b) Social security number of the parent;
(c) Date of birth of the parent;
(d) Last known mailing and residential address of the parent;
(e) Amount of wages, salaries, earnings or commissions earned by or paid to the parent;
(f) Number of dependents declared by the parent on state and federal tax information and reporting forms;
(g) Name of company, policy numbers and dependent coverage for any medical insurance carried by or on behalf of the parent;
(h) Name of company, policy numbers and cash values, if any, for any life insurance policies or annuity contracts, carried by or on behalf of, or owned by, the parent;
(i) Any retirement benefits, pension plans or stock purchase plans maintained on behalf of, or owned by, the parent and the values thereof, employee contributions thereto, and the extent to which each benefit or plan is vested;
(j) Vital statistics, including records of marriage, birth or divorce;
(k) Tax and revenue records, including information on residence address, employer, income or assets;
(l) Records concerning real or personal property;
(m) Records of occupational, professional or recreational licenses or permits;
(n) Records concerning the ownership and control of corporations, partnerships or other businesses;
(o) Employment security records;
(p) Records concerning motor vehicles;
(q) Records of assets or liabilities;
(r) Corrections records;
(s) Names and addresses of employers of parents;
(t) Motor vehicle records; and
(u) Law enforcement records;
(6) "Parent", a biological or adoptive parent, including a presumed or putative father.
2. For the purpose of locating and determining financial resources of the parents relating to establishment of paternity or to establish, modify or enforce support orders, the division or other state IV-D agency may request and receive information from the federal Parent Locator Service, from available records in other states, territories and the District of Columbia, from the records of all government agencies, and from businesses and financial entities. A request for information from a public utility or cable television company shall be made by subpoena authorized pursuant to this chapter. The government agencies, businesses, and financial entities shall provide information, if known or chronicled in their business records, notwithstanding any other provision of law making the information confidential. In addition, the division [or other state IV-D agency] may use all sources of information and available records and, pursuant to agreement with the secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or the secretary's designee, request and receive from the federal Parent Locator Service information [authorized] pursuant to 42 U.S.C. [Section] Sections 653 and 663, to determine the whereabouts of any parent or child when such information is to be used to locate the parent or child to enforce any state or federal law with respect to the unlawful taking or restraining of a child, or of making or enforcing a child custody or visitation order.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 2 of this section, no financial entity shall be required to provide the information requested by the division or other state IV-D agency unless the division or other state IV-D agency alleges that the parent about whom the information is sought is an officer, agent, member, employee, depositor, customer or the insured of the financial institution, or unless the division or other state IV-D agency has complied with the provisions of section 660.330, RSMo.
4. Any business or financial entity which has received a request from the division or other state IV-D agency as provided by subsections 2 and 3 of this section shall provide the requested information or a statement that any or all of the requested information is not known or available to the business or financial entity, within sixty days of receipt of the request and shall be liable to the state for civil penalties up to one hundred dollars for each day after such sixty-day period in which it fails to provide the information so requested. Upon request of the division or other state IV-D agency, the attorney general shall bring an action in a circuit court of competent jurisdiction to recover the civil penalty. The court shall have the authority to determine the amount of the civil penalty to be assessed.
5. Any business or financial entity, or any officer, agent or employee of such entity, participating in good faith in providing information requested pursuant to subsections 2 and 3 of this section shall be immune from liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise result from the release of such information to the division.
6. Upon request of the division or other state IV-D agency, any parent shall complete a statement under oath, upon such form as the division or other state IV-D agency may specify, providing information, including, but not necessarily limited to, the parent's monthly income, the parent's total income for the previous year, the number and name of the parent's dependents and the amount of support the parent provides to each, the nature and extent of the parent's assets, and such other information pertinent to the support of the dependent as the division or other state IV-D agency may request. Upon request of the division or other state IV-D agency, such statements shall be completed annually. Failure to comply with this subsection is a class A misdemeanor.
7. The disclosure of any information provided to the business or financial entity by the division or other state IV-D agency, or the disclosure of any information regarding the identity of any applicant for or recipient of public assistance, by an officer or employee of any business or financial entity, or by any person receiving such information from such employee or officer is prohibited. Any person violating this subsection is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
8. Any person who willfully requests, obtains or seeks to obtain information pursuant to this section under false pretenses, or who willfully communicates or seeks to communicate such information to any agency or person except pursuant to this chapter, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
9. For the protection of applicants and recipients of services pursuant to sections 454.400 to 454.645, all officers and employees of, and persons and entities under contract to, the state of Missouri are prohibited, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, from disclosing any information obtained by them in the discharge of their official duties relative to the identity of applicants for or recipients of services or relating to proceedings or actions to establish paternity or to establish or enforce support, or relating to the contents of any records, files, papers and communications, except in the administration of the child support program or the administration of public assistance, including civil or criminal proceedings or investigations conducted in connection with the administration of the child support program or the administration of public assistance. Such officers, employees, persons or entities are specifically prohibited from disclosing any information relating to the location of one party to another party:
(1) If a protective order has been entered against the other party; or
(2) If there is reason to believe that such disclosure of information may result in physical or emotional harm to the other party.
In any judicial proceedings, except such proceedings as are directly concerned with the administration of these programs, such information obtained in the discharge of official duties relative to the identity of applicants for or recipients of child support services or public assistance, and records, files, papers, communications and their contents shall be confidential and not admissible in evidence. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the circuit clerk from releasing information, not otherwise privileged, from court records for reasons other than the administration of the child support program, if such information does not identify any individual as an applicant for or recipient of services pursuant to sections 454.400 to 454.645. Anyone who purposely or knowingly violates this subsection is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
454.455. 1. In any case wherein an order for child support has been entered and the legal custodian and obligee pursuant to the order relinquishes physical custody of the child to a caretaker relative without obtaining a modification of legal custody, and the caretaker relative makes an assignment of support rights to the division of family services in order to receive aid to families with dependent children benefits, the relinquishment and the assignment, by operation of law, shall transfer the child support obligation pursuant to the order to the division in behalf of the state. The assignment shall terminate when the caretaker relative no longer has physical custody of the child, except for those unpaid support obligations still owing to the state pursuant to the assignment at that time.
2. As used in subsection 1 of this section, the term "caretaker relative" includes only those persons listed in subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of section 208.040, RSMo.
3. If an order for child support has been entered, no assignment of support has been made, and the legal custodian and obligee under the order relinquishes physical custody of the child to a caretaker relative without obtaining a modification of legal custody, or the child is placed by the court in the legal custody of a state agency, the division may, thirty days after the transfer of custody and upon notice to the obligor and obligee, direct the obligor or other payor to change the payee to the caretaker relative or appropriate state agency. Such order shall terminate when the caretaker relative no longer has physical custody of the child, or the state agency is relieved of legal custody, except for the unpaid support obligations still owed to the caretaker relative.
4. If there has been an assignment of support to an agency or division of the state or a requirement to pay through a state disbursement unit, the division may, upon notice to the obligor and obligee, direct the obligor or other payor to change the payee to the appropriate state agency.
454.460. As used in sections 454.460 to 454.520, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following terms mean:
(1) "Court", any circuit court of this state and any court or agency of any other state having jurisdiction to determine the liability of persons for the support of another person;
(2) "Court order", any judgment, decree, or order of any court which orders payment of a set or determinable amount of support money;
(3) "Department", the department of social services of the state of Missouri;
(4) "Dependent child", any person under the age of twenty-one who is not otherwise emancipated, self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States;
(5) "Director", the director of the division of child support enforcement, or the director's designee;
(6) "Division", the division of child support enforcement of the department of social services of the state of Missouri;
(7) "IV-D agency", an agency designated by a state to administer programs under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act;
(8) "IV-D case", a case in which services are being provided pursuant to section 454.400;
(9) "Obligee", any person to whom payments are required to be made pursuant to the terms of a court order for a child, spouse or former spouse;
(10) "Obligor", any person required to make payments pursuant to the terms of a court order for a child, spouse or former spouse;
(11) "Parent", the biological or adoptive father or mother of a dependent child;
(12) "Public assistance", any cash or benefit under Part IV-A or Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act paid by the department to or for the benefit of any dependent child or any public assistance assigned to the state;
(13) "State", any state or political subdivision, territory or possession of the United States, District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;
(14) "Support order", a judgment, decree or order, whether temporary, final or subject to modification, issued by a court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction for the support and maintenance of a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state, or [a child and] of the parent with whom the child is living and providing monetary support, health care, child care, arrearages or reimbursement for such child, and which may include related costs and fees, interest and penalties, income withholding, attorneys' fees and other relief.
476.688. Except as provided in section 104.312, RSMo, the compensation provided for in sections 476.455 to 476.688, and any benefits consolidated with the compensation, shall be treated like any other state retirement benefits payable by the Missouri state employees' retirement system and shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, writ of sequestration or any other process or claim whatsoever, and shall be unassignable, except with regard to the collection of child support or maintenance.