S 237 Session 111 (1995-1996)
S 0237 General Bill, By Short, Elliott, Hayes, Rankin and M.T. Rose
Similar(H 3613)
A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTIONS
20-7-940 AND 20-7-941 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR WITHHOLDING ISSUANCE
OR RENEWAL OF A PROFESSIONAL OR BUSINESS LICENSE WHEN THE APPLICANT IS MORE
THAN THIRTY CALENDAR DAYS PAST DUE IN PAYING SUPPORT PURSUANT TO AN ORDER
BEING ENFORCED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES UNDER TITLE IV-D OF
THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT; AND TO AMEND SECTION 20-7-420, AS AMENDED, RELATING
TO FAMILY COURT JURISDICTION, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE COURT TO CONDUCT JUDICIAL
REVIEWS RELATIVE TO THESE LICENSE MATTERS.
10/31/94 Senate Prefiled
10/31/94 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
01/10/95 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-81
01/10/95 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-81
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
1976, BY ADDING SECTIONS 20-7-940 AND 20-7-941 SO AS
TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR WITHHOLDING
ISSUANCE OR RENEWAL OF A PROFESSIONAL OR
BUSINESS LICENSE WHEN THE APPLICANT IS MORE
THAN THIRTY CALENDAR DAYS PAST DUE IN PAYING
SUPPORT PURSUANT TO AN ORDER BEING ENFORCED BY
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES UNDER
TITLE IV-D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT; AND TO
AMEND SECTION 20-7-420, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO
FAMILY COURT JURISDICTION, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE THE
COURT TO CONDUCT JUDICIAL REVIEWS RELATIVE TO
THESE LICENSE MATTERS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Subarticle 3, Article 9, Chapter 7, Title 20 of the
1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 20-7-940. An individual who has been issued a
license, as defined in Section 20-7-941, whether the license is active
or inactive, who fails to pay child support after it becomes due is
subject to Section 20-7-941."
SECTION 2. Subarticle 3, Article 9, Chapter 7, Title 20 of the
1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 20-7-941. (A) As used in this section:
(1) `Applicant' means a person applying for issuance or
renewal of a license.
(2) `Compliance with an order for support' means that
pursuant to an order for child or spousal support rendered by or
registered in a court of this State being enforced by the State
Department of Social Services under Title IV-D of the Social
Security Act, the obligor is no more than thirty calendar days in
arrears in making payments in full for current support, in making
periodic payments on a support arrearage, or in making periodic
payments on a reimbursement for public assistance.
(3) `Department' means the State Department of Social
Services.
(4) `Director' means the director of the Child Support
Enforcement Division of the State Department of Social Services,
or the director's designee.
(5) `Division' means the Child Support Enforcement Division
of the State Department of Social Services.
(6) `License' means a certificate, credential, permit,
registration, or any other authorization issued by a licensing board
that allows an individual to engage in a business, occupation, or
profession. `License' includes a license to operate a commercial
motor vehicle and membership in the South Carolina Bar.
(7) `Licensee' means an individual holding a license,
certificate, credential, permit, registration, or other authorization
issued by a licensing board to engage in a business, occupation, or
profession.
(8) `Licensing board' means the Department of Labor,
Licensing, and Regulation or any other state agency or board,
department, office, or commission that issues a license, certificate,
credential, permit, registration or other authorization for a person to
engage in a business, occupation, or profession.
(9) `List' means a list provided by the Child Support
Enforcement Division of the State Department of Social Services in
which the director verifies that the names contained on the list are
support obligors out of compliance with an order for support.
(B) The division shall maintain a list of support obligors out of
compliance with an order for support and the obligors' social
security numbers and last known addresses.
(C) The division shall provide the list to each licensing board on
a monthly basis.
(D) Within fifteen days after receiving an application for
issuance or renewal of a license and before the issuance or renewal
of the license, each licensing board shall determine whether the
applicant is on the most recent list provided by the division. If the
applicant is on the list, the licensing board may not issue or renew
the license; however, if the applicant is otherwise eligible, the
licensing board shall issue a temporary license for one hundred fifty
days. If the applicant is not in compliance with the order for
support at the expiration of the one hundred and fifty days, the
license must be denied until the applicant is in compliance with the
order for support. The temporary license may not be renewed or
extended.
(E) Any application or renewal fee paid by the applicant must
not be refunded by the board.
(F) Immediately upon determining that the applicant is out of
compliance with an order for support, the licensing board shall
notify the applicant personally or by mail at the applicant's last
known mailing address on file with the licensing board that the
applicant's license will not be issued or renewed. The notice must
inform the applicant of the grounds for withholding the issuance or
renewal of the license, the issuance of a temporary license, the
requirements for obtaining the license for the full or remainder of
the licensing period, and the procedure for review.
(G) Within thirty days of the personal service or mailing of the
notice, an applicant may request a review by the director or may
initiate a proceeding in family court for a judicial review. Either
review must be limited to:
(1) whether there is a support order;
(2) whether the petitioner is the obligor covered by the
support order; and
(3) whether the support obligor is or is not in compliance
with the order of support.
Within thirty days of receiving the request the director shall
inform the applicant in writing of the findings. The director
immediately shall notify the licensing board to issue or renew the
license if the applicant:
(a) is found to be in compliance with the order for support;
or
(b) has obtained a judicial finding of compliance with the
order for support.
If upon completing the review the applicant is found out of
compliance with the order of support, no license may be issued or
renewed until the applicant is in compliance with the order for
support and the director notifies the licensing board to issue or
renew the license. The applicant may seek a de novo hearing on
the director's findings if within thirty days of the mailing of the
director's findings the applicant initiates a proceeding in family
court. Within seven days of initiating a de novo review the
applicant must notify the director in writing that the review has
been initiated.
(H) If the applicant initiates a proceeding for a judicial review
the applicant may seek a judicial determination of compliance with
the order for support, a court ordered time payment plan on the
arrearage, a modification of the support order, or any of these.
The court must conduct an evidentiary hearing or, in the case of
a review of the director's findings, a de novo hearing, within thirty
days of the initiation of the proceeding. If the judicial review
results in a finding by the court that the obligor is in compliance
with the order for support, the director immediately shall direct the
licensing board to issue or renew the license.
(I) At any time an obligor comes into compliance with the
order for support, the director shall notify the applicant and the
licensing board that the applicant is in compliance. The receipt of
the notice indicates that, for the purposes of this section, the
applicant is in compliance with the order for support, and the
license must be issued or renewed unless, subsequent to the
notification, the applicant's name appears on the list compiled by
the department pursuant to subsection (B) for subsequently being
out of compliance with an order for support.
(J) The notice required by subsection (F) must include the
address and telephone number of the director of the Child Support
Enforcement Division and the address of the court in which the
applicant may initiate a proceeding for judicial review. The notice
must be developed by each licensing board in accordance with
guidelines provided by the department and subject to approval by
the department. The department also shall develop a form that the
applicant must use to request a review by the director. A copy of
this form must be included with every notice sent pursuant to this
section.
(K) Nothing in this section limits an applicant from seeking a
modification of an order for support through the family court.
However, the process provided for in this section constitutes the
sole administrative remedy that an applicant has for contesting the
issuance of a temporary license or the denial of a license under this
section. The procedures specified in the Administrative Procedures
Act do not apply to the withholding or denial of the issuance or
renewal of a license pursuant to this section.
(L) To implement this section and to the extent it is cost
effective, the department may enter into interagency agreements
with the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and other
state agencies that have responsibility for the administration of
licensing boards. These agreements shall provide that the agencies
with which the department contracts shall receive federal funds to
cover that portion of costs allowable in federal law and regulation
and incurred by the agencies in implementing this section.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the agencies must
provide the funding for the nonfederal share of costs incurred
pursuant to this section. These agreements shall provide that these
agencies shall reimburse the department for the nonfederal share of
costs incurred by the department in implementing this section and
funds for this reimbursement must come from monies collected
from applicants for licenses.
(M) Information collected pursuant to this section is subject to
the Freedom of Information Act.
(N) A person who releases or makes use of information received
by a licensing board pursuant to this section, except as authorized
by this section or any other provision of law, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more that six months or
both.
(O) The director shall establish review procedures consistent
with this section which allow an applicant to have the underlying
arrearage and any relevant defenses investigated and which provide
an applicant information on the process of obtaining a modification
of a support order.
(P) The division shall develop the forms and promulgate
regulations necessary to implement this section."
SECTION 3. Section 20-7-420 of the 1976 Code is amended
further by adding an appropriately numbered item to read:
"( ) To conduct judicial reviews pursuant to Section
20-7-941."
SECTION 4. If any provision of this section or the application
of any provision to any person or circumstance is held invalid, that
invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this
section which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to this end the provisions of this section are
severable.
SECTION 5. By January 1, 1996, or as soon thereafter as the
State Department of Social Services, Division of Child Support
Enforcement's automated system is operational, the division and all
licensing boards subject to Section 20-7-941 of the 1976 Code, as
added by Section 2 of this act, shall implement procedures
necessary to carry out the provisions of Section 20-7-941.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
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