CCS#2/HS/HCS/SB 291 - This act amends various provisions regarding child support enforcement. The Division of Child Support Enforcement shall establish and operate a Family Support Payment Center on or before October 1, 1999. The center shall receive and disburse payments for all IV-D cases, and any case where the support order was entered after January 1, 1994, in which a wage withholding order is in place. After July 1, 2001, the payment center shall receive support payments for all cases in which the obligor is required to make payments through the court clerk. After notice by the Division to the court, the payment center becomes trustee for support payments. If the center is operated by a contractor, a yearly audit shall be conducted and the results delivered to the Division, the Office of Administration and the Office of State Court Administrator. The payment center shall disburse support payments within two business days after receipt from the employer. Support payments shall be deposited into the Family Support Trust Fund.

The Division shall maintain records in the automated child support system showing payments received and disbursed by the payment center, including the amount of current support due and total past unpaid support, and shall include payment and disbursement records previously maintained by circuit clerks. Records of the circuit clerks as shown on the automated child support system shall be deemed as certified by the clerks. Credits against support orders shall also be recorded, including income withholdings, garnishments and tax intercepts. In non-IV- D cases, the Division shall only record payments received by the center; all other credits shall be recorded by the circuit clerks.

Copies of records of the payment center, including those maintained in the automated child support system or by a circuit clerk, whether certified by the Division, circuit clerk or employee of the payment center, shall be admissible without further proof of foundation in any judicial or administrative proceeding and shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of support paid.

An employee of the Division, circuit clerk or payment center may comply with a subpoena to produce records by transmitting a certified copy of the record to the appropriate party. All parties must be served with a copy of the copy of the records at least seven days prior to trial, in order for the records to be offered into evidence. Properly certified records shall be admissible in all court and administrative proceedings.

Copies of judicial orders and documents from court files that are transmitted to the Division are rebuttably presumed to be correct, and may be offered into evidence without authentication or verification in any hearings pursuant to Chapter 454. A person may rebut the presumption with a certified copy of the record.

The Division may charge and collect a fee of $10 per each order for each year or part of year from support paid through the payment center. An obligor may be required to pay by certified or guaranteed check. A fee of up to $25 may be charged on all insufficient checks.

The Division or circuit clerk shall notify any obligor and employer to direct payments subject to an income withholding order to the payment center, if the person is not already required to do so by court order. Failure to pay the payment center after the second written notice shall be grounds for contempt.

The records maintained in the automated child support system shall no longer record current support obligations: 1) in a IV-D case with an administrative support order, when the Division determines that payments for current support are no longer due, in which case the Division shall notify the obligor and obligee, who shall have an opportunity to contest the Division's finding; 2) in a IV-D case when a court has entered the support order, when the court directs the Division to terminate the order; or 3) in all cases when the child becomes 22 years of age, unless a court orders the support to continue.

For IV-D cases, records of the payment center shall include support arrearages and credit determinations. In any judgment, order or decree awarding child support or maintenance, payments recorded shall include payments or credits in the automated child support system or the payment center.

Abatements of child support shall be recorded in the automated child support system record. In non-IV-D cases, clerks shall record the amount of the abatement in the automated child support system upon court order.

The court, on its own motion or that of either party, may order payments to be made to the payment center, unless the Division notifies the court otherwise. In those cases, payments shall be made to the clerk as trustee. Prior to October 1, 1999, the court may order payments to be made to the payment center with the agreement of the Division. The clerk shall maintain records in the automated child support system. The Division may also enter information in the system pursuant to Chapter 454, RSMo.

For cases with required income withholding orders, the authority to collect support is transferred from circuit clerks to the payment center. Employers may charge $6 a month for each payment withheld. The payment center shall adjust payments between multiple orders on a pro rata basis, unless a withholding order from another state is involved.

Support payments will be made to the payment center instead of circuit clerks, in cases where payments have been assigned to a IV-D agency of this or another state. Notification by the Division to the court of the assignment of support rights shall be sufficient to make the payment center trustee. The payment center shall keep accurate records of orders and payments. Upon termination of the assignment, the center shall continue as trustee for this or another state for accrued unpaid support. The center shall also continue as trustee for the obligee for support due after the termination of the assignment. Trusteeship may be dissolved upon motion of a party after notice and a hearing.

In cases where a court orders support to a person receiving payment services from the Division upon request of a party or upon application to a IV-D agency of another state, the trusteeship is transferred from the circuit clerks to the payment center upon notice by the Division. Notice of the Division is sufficient to authorize the payment center to be trustee. The payment center shall keep accurate records and orders and payments, and shall report collections to the Division. The payment center shall forward payments to the appropriate person or agency.

In non-IV-D cases, the circuit clerk or the Division shall record credits on the automated child support system records. Credits allowed include abatements pursuant to Section 452.340, RSMo. The Division may record or adjust records to reflect payments and disbursements shown on trusteeship record when the trusteeship record is maintained in the automated child support system.

In cases involving administrative orders of the Division, an order of the Director shall authorize the payment to be trustee. The payment center shall forward payments to the appropriate person or agency, maintain accurate records of orders and payments, and report collections to the Division. A copy of an administrative withholding order shall be filed with the circuit court in which the dissolution or paternity judgment was entered, or if no such judgment was entered, then in the county where the parent or the child resides or where the order or judgment is filed or registered. In cases that do not involved a wage withholding order from another state, the payment center will adjust payments between multiple orders on a pro rata basis.

This act has an emergency clause.
JOAN GUMMELS