Computerized Central Case Registry for Support Orders

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Domestic Relations
4. Enforcement of Duty of Support
5. Child Support Recovery Act
6. Computerized Central Case Registry for Support Orders

1. The department shall create by contract, cooperative agreement, or otherwise a computerized central case registry for all support orders entered by any court or administrative tribunal of this state. All support orders obtained by the child support enforcement agency as well as those support orders not within the child support enforcement agency shall be registered in such data base. The department may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Administrative Office of the Courts so as to obtain information needed to create and maintain the state registry of support orders as required by federal law.
2. The registry of orders shall include the following information for each case: the full names of each party and minor child, the date of birth and social security number for each such person, the last known address for each person at the time the order was entered, the name of the county in which the order was entered, any and all case identification numbers, including civil action filing numbers and child support enforcement agency assigned case numbers, and any such information as may be later required under federal law.
3. In any case handled by the child support enforcement agency, the registry shall include payment records as well as the amount of child support liens. The payment record shall include:
   1. The amount of monthly or other periodic support owed under the order and other amounts including arrearages, interest or late payment penalties, and fees due or overdue under the order;
   2. Any amount described in paragraph (1) of this subsection that has been collected;
   3. The distribution of such collected amounts;
   4. The birth date of any child for whom the order requires the provision of support; and
   5. The amount of any lien imposed with respect to a child support order.
4. The state agency operating the state case registry shall promptly establish and update, maintain, and regularly monitor case records in the state case registry with respect to which services are being provided by the child support enforcement agency. Services to be monitored include: information on administrative actions and administrative and judicial proceedings and orders related to paternity and support; information obtained from comparison with federal, state, or local sources of information; information on support collections and distributions; and any other relevant information.
5. The information contained in the state case registry shall be available to state and federal agencies as authorized by law for the enforcement of support orders. The information shall be available for data comparisons with case registries of other states.

(Code 1981, §19-11-39, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1613, § 31; Ga. L. 2014, p. 457, § 13/SB 282; Ga. L. 2017, p. 646, §§ 1-26, 2-3/SB 137.)

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, substituted "child support enforcement agency" for "IV-D agency" throughout this Code section; and, in subsection (a), substituted the present provisions of the second sentence for the former provisions, which read: "All IV-D agency orders as well as those not within the IV-D agency shall be registered in this data base.", and inserted "support" preceding "orders" in the third sentence.

Law reviews.

- For article on the 1997 enactment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 121 (1997).

ARTICLE 2 UNIFORM RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ACT

Editor's notes.

- See O.C.G.A. § 19-11-40.1 for applicability of this article.

Law reviews.

- For article, "Georgia Inheritance Rights of Children Born Out of Wedlock," see 23 Ga. St. B.J. 28 (1986). For article, "Georgia's Constitutional Scheme for State Appellate Jurisdiction," see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 24 (2001).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- Ga. L. 1958, p. 34 (see now O.C.G.A. Art. 2, Ch. 11, T. 19) does not deny due process of law in violation of federal and state Constitutions. Dansby v. Dansby, 222 Ga. 118, 149 S.E.2d 252 (1966).

Support award in URESA action may vary from prior decree.

- Since the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-11-40 et seq., is an independent proceeding which does not affect, and is not bound by, prior foreign judgments, a responding court may enter a support order that is greater than, as well as less than, a prior judgment. State ex rel. McKenna v. McKenna, 253 Ga. 6, 315 S.E.2d 885 (1984).

Cited in Lamb v. Lamb, 241 Ga. 545, 246 S.E.2d 665 (1978); Helms v. Jones, 621 F.2d 211 (5th Cir. 1980); Woodes v. Morris, 247 Ga. 771, 279 S.E.2d 704 (1981); East v. Pike, 163 Ga. App. 375, 294 S.E.2d 597 (1982).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Treaty not prerequisite to recognizing foreign country as reciprocating state.

- Treaty between United States and a foreign country permitting reciprocal enforcement of child support obligations is not a prerequisite to recognizing that country as a reciprocating state under O.C.G.A. Art. 2, Ch. 11, T. 19. 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-12.

Reciprocal child support enforcement acts not violative of U.S. Constitution treaty provisions.

- So long as a reciprocal child support enforcement statute does not require more than a routine review of foreign laws, does not directly affect United States foreign policy, and does not have the potential for disruption of foreign policy or embarrassment to the United States government, the statute does not violate treaty provisions of the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., Art. I, Sec. X, Cl. I and U.S. Const., Art. II, Sec. II, Cl. II). 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-12.

Superior court may not transfer proceeding to juvenile court.

- Superior court may not transfer a Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, O.C.G.A. § 19-11-40 et seq., proceeding to the juvenile court under O.C.G.A. § 15-11-6(b). 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U89-7.

Download our app to see the most-to-date content.