Source: https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/child-support-and-incarceration.aspx
Timestamp: 2020-04-03 09:11:14
Document Index: 79955540

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 46', '§ 19', '§ 31', '§ 31', '§ 31', '§ 31', '§ 31', '§ 9', '§ 9', '§ 9', 'Art. 1353', '§ 43', '§ 43', '§ 14', '§ 25', '§ 416', '§ 78']

A 2011 report on the impact of the NCP Choices Program showed the following results:
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) has a Project to Avoid Increasing Delinquencies (PAID) resource with various fact sheets addressing this issue.
Approximately 40 states and D.C. currently treat imprisonment as involuntary unemployment which means the obligor could request a modification. Certain exceptions to this determination exist if the reason for the incarceration is related to the failure to pay child support or avoidance of child support. A small number of states treat incarceration as voluntary unemployment because the crime, which led to the inability to work or pay child support, is considered a voluntary act. As such, modification of child support during incarceration is not allowed in those states. The new federal rule, discussed above, prohibits state child support programs from treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment, allowing for modification of child support orders during incarceration.
At least 20 states have statutory provisions addressing the modification or suspension of child support during periods of incarceration, or the treatment of incarceration as voluntary or involuntary unemployment. California and Texas enacted legislation in 2015, while the federal rule was being considered:
Since adoption of the federal rule in December 2016, 20 states have introduced 34 bills addressing the modification or suspension of child support orders during periods of incarceration. Nine of those states enacted legislation. For more about how states address modification of child support orders during periods of incarceration, see OCSE’s Modification Laws and Policies for Incarcerated Noncustodial Parents facts sheet, part of the PAID project discussed above.
Enacted Legislation 2017-2019
2017 HB 7131
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-215e
2018 SB 427
Ga. Code § 19-6-15
2018 SB 179
Ind. Code § 31-9-2-54.7
Sec. 54.7. "Incarceration", for purposes of IC 31-16 and IC 31-25-4, means confinement of an individual on a full-time basis in a place of detention that prohibits the individual from gainful employment, including home detention or a municipal, county, state, or federal prison or jail. The term does not include an individual on parole, probation, work release, community corrections, or any other detention alternative program that allows the individual to be gainfully employed.
Ind. Code § 31-16-6-1
Ind. Code § 31-16-8-1
(d) Incarceration may constitute a change in circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make terms of an order unreasonable.
Ind. Code § 31-16-8-4
(1) a petition to modify a child support order based on incarceration of a party is filed; and
(2) no party files an objection or request for a hearing within thirty (30) days after receiving notice;
the court may modify the child support order, or approve a proposed modification, without holding a hearing.
Ind. Code § 31-25-4-17
(a) The bureau shall do the following:
(8) Beginning July 1, 2019, not later than fifteen (15) days after learning that an obligor in a Title IV-D case is or may be incarcerated for a period of at least one hundred eighty (180) calendar days, notify both parties of each party's right to request a modification of the child support order.
2017 HB 680
La. Rev. Stat. § 9:311 (effective Jan. 1, 2019)
D. A material change in circumstance need not be shown for either of the following purposes:
(1) To modify a child support award to include a court-ordered award for medical support.
(2) To suspend or modify a child support award in accordance with R.S. 9:311.1.
La. Rev. Stat. § 9:311.1 (effective Jan. 1, 2019)
A. In accordance with the provisions of this Section, every order of child support shall be suspended when the obligor will be or is incarcerated for any period of one hundred eighty consecutive days or more, unless any of the following conditions exist:
(1) The obligor has the means to pay support while incarcerated.
(2) The obligor is incarcerated for an offense against the custodial party or the child subject to the support order.
(3) The incarceration resulted from the obligor's failure to comply with a court order to pay child support.
La. Rev. Stat. § 9:315.11
C. A party shall not be deemed voluntarily unemployed or underemployed if either:
(1) He has been temporarily unable to find work or has been temporarily forced to take a lower paying lower-paying job as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina or Rita.
(2) He is or was incarcerated for one hundred eighty consecutive days or longer.
La. Children’s Code, Art. 1353: G. It is a defense as provided by R.S. 9:311.1 to a charge of contempt of court for failure to comply with a court order of child support if an obligor can prove that he was incarcerated during the period of noncompliance. This defense applies only to the time period of actual incarceration.
2018 LB 702
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-512.12
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-512.15
2017 SB 2277
N.D. Cent. Code § 14-09-09.38
1. A monthly support obligation established under any provision of this code and in effect after December 31, 2017, expires by operation of law upon incarceration of the obligor under a sentence of one hundred eighty days or longer, excluding credit for time served before sentencing.
2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a monthly support obligation may be established for an obligor who is incarcerated under a sentence of one hundred eighty days or longer if the obligation is based on actual income of the obligor and the moving party makes a prima facie showing that the obligor's income exceeds the minimum amount provided in the guidelines established under section 14-09-09.7.
3. As used in this section, “incarceration” means placement of an obligor in a custodial setting in which the obligor is not permitted to earn wages from employment outside the correctional facility, and does not include probation or work release.
4. The expiration of a monthly support obligation under subsection 1 does not affect any past-due support that is owed before the expiration of the obligation.
2017 SB 682
Or. Rev. Stat. § 25.247
(3) Within 30 days following identification of an obligor described in subsection (1) of this section whose child support obligation has not already been modified due to incarceration, the entity responsible for support enforcement services under ORS 25.080 shall provide notice of the presumption to the obligee and obligor and shall inform all parties to the support order that, unless a party objects as provided in subsection (4) of this section, child support shall cease accruing beginning with the first day of the first month that follows the obligor becoming incarcerated for a period of at least 180 consecutive days and continuing through the support payment due in the last month prior to the reinstatement of the support order as provided in subsection (6) of this section. The entity shall serve the notice on the obligee in the manner provided for the service of summons in a civil action, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by any other mail service with delivery confirmation and shall serve the notice on the obligor by first class mail to the obligor's last-known address. The notice shall specify the month in which the obligor became incarcerated and shall contain a statement that the administrator represents the state and that low-cost legal counsel may be available.
(9) An obligor's incarceration for at least 180 consecutive days or an obligor's release from incarceration is considered a substantial change of circumstances for purposes of child support modification proceedings.
(10) Proof of incarceration for at least 180 consecutive days is sufficient cause for the administrator, court or administrative law judge to allow a credit and satisfaction against child support arrearages for each month that the obligor was incarcerated or that is within 120 days following the obligor's release from incarceration unless the presumption of inability to pay has been rebutted.
Or. Rev. Stat. § 416.425
2017 HB 5553
2017 SB 406
(c) (3) When the department of human services, office of child support services, becomes aware of the fact, through an electronic data exchange of information with the department of corrections, or by any other means, that the noncustodial parent is or will be incarcerated for one hundred eighty (180) days or more, the department may automatically file a motion to modify or a motion for relief, to be heard before the court via a video conference hearing or other type of hearing. A specific request for the filing of this motion need not be made in writing or otherwise by the incarcerated, noncustodial parent, but the parent shall be notified of the hearing and provided a meaningful opportunity to respond. The court shall schedule a hearing to determine the noncustodial parent's ability to pay, taking into consideration the assets and financial resources and any benefits the noncustodial parent may be receiving, the length of the sentence, and shall modify or suspend all child-support orders, after setting forth in its decision specific findings of fact that show circumstances upon which the court has decided to modify or suspend all child-support orders during the period of incarceration. Upon the obligor's release, the department of human services, office of child support services, shall file a motion for support, and a hearing shall be scheduled to determine the obligor's ability to begin paying child support pursuant to the child support guidelines in effect. This section does not apply to those individuals who are serving a sentence for criminal nonsupport in state or federal prison, or who are found to be in civil contempt for failure to pay child support and incarcerated for that reason.
2017 SB 153
Utah Code § 78B-12-203
(6) Incarceration of at least six months may not be treated as voluntary unemployment by the office in establishing or modifying a support order.
National Institute of Justice, Hidden Consequences: The Impact of Incarceration on Dependent Children
NCSL’s Ex-Offender Employment Opportunities 2011 report and January 2014 update, see Issue in Focus section.
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