Current Status Bill Number:237 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19950110 Primary Sponsor:Short All Sponsors:Short, Elliott, Rose, Rankin, Hayes Drafted Document Number:PT\1500AC.95 Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:Child support, delinquent payments
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19950110 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
Senate 19941031 Prefiled, referred to Committee 11 SJ
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
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.