2023 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › Title 46 - Public Welfare and Assistance › §46:236.15. Limited administrative authority for certain paternity and child support actions

RS 46:236.15 - Limited administrative authority for certain paternity and child support actions
A. Genetic testing.
(1) In cases in which the Department of Children and Family Services, office of children and family services, child support enforcement section, referred to in this Section as "agency", is providing services, the agency may, in cases in which paternity is at issue, order all parties to submit to genetic testing.
(2) To order an alleged father to submit to genetic testing, the agency shall provide the alleged father with a notice by certified mail, personal service, or domiciliary service. The notice shall advise the alleged father that he has been named as the father of one child or more and list each child, each child's date of birth, and the mother of each child. The notice shall advise the alleged father that he is being ordered to submit to genetic testing and shall give the time and place where the genetic sample is to be taken. The date the genetic test is scheduled for shall be at least twenty days from the date of notice on the alleged father.
(3) Genetic test results obtained under this Section shall be admissible in any subsequent paternity proceedings.
(4) The agency shall serve both parties with the results of the genetic tests. If either party requests an additional test and pays in advance for the test, the agency shall order all the parties to submit to another genetic test.
(5) If the genetic test excludes the alleged father, the agency shall be precluded from taking any further action against him.
(6) The department shall take no further administrative action against an alleged father who refuses or fails to submit to genetic testing pursuant to this Subsection. However, nothing in this Subsection shall preclude the department from taking action in the appropriate court to establish paternity and requesting the court to order such party to submit to genetic testing in accordance with state law.
B. Subpoena authority.
The agency shall have the administrative authority to subpoena information needed to establish, modify, or enforce a support order, or to establish paternity, or to locate a non-custodial parent, and to impose penalties not to exceed twenty-five dollars for failure to respond to such a subpoena. To order such subpoena, the agency shall provide a written notice to the appropriate entity which has the information. The notice shall provide the entity with the appropriate statutory authority that allows the agency to issue the subpoena, and shall list the penalties for failure to comply. The entity shall also be given thirty days to file an appeal with the agency.
C. Access to information.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, subject to the safeguards on privacy and information security, and subject to the nonliability of entities that afford such access according to this Subsection, the agency shall have the right to access information contained in the following records, including information maintained in automated databases, to assist in actions relating to the establishment of paternity or to the establishment, modification, or enforcement of support orders, without obtaining an order from any other judicial or administrative tribunal:
(1) Vital records, including marriage, birth, and divorce records.
(2) State and local tax and revenue records, including information on residence address, employer, income, and assets.
(3) Records concerning real and titled property.
(4) Employment security records.
(5) Corrections records.
(6) Records of occupational and professional licenses and records concerning the ownership and control of corporations, partnerships, and other business entities.
(7) Records of agencies administering public assistance programs.
(8) Records of the office of motor vehicles.
(9) The names and addresses of individuals who owe or are owed support, or against or with respect to whom a support obligation is sought, and the names and addresses of employers of such individuals, as appearing in customer records of electronic communications and Internet service providers, public utilities, cable television companies, and cellular telephone companies, pursuant to an administrative subpoena in accordance with Subsection B of this Section.
D. Authority to seize and intercept.
(1) In cases in which there is a child support arrearage or child support overpayment made to a custodial parent, and after notice of such arrearage or overpayment has been made by certified or regular mail, personal service, or domiciliary service, the agency shall have the administrative authority to:
(a) Intercept, encumber, freeze, or seize periodic or lump sum payments from a state or local agency or any entity licensed or permitted by any state agency or board under Chapters 1, 4, 5, or 7 of Title 27 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, including but not limited to unemployment compensation benefits, workers' compensation, and other benefits, judgments, settlements, lottery winnings, progressive slot machine annuities beginning with the second annuity payment, cash gaming winnings, assets held in financial institutions, and public and private retirement funds. However, child support overpayments are excluded from recovery from unemployment compensation benefits. The provisions of R.S. 13:3881 providing general exemptions from seizure are applicable to the provisions of this Subparagraph. After the agency encumbers, intercepts, or freezes any assets set out in this Subsection, it shall notify the payor or custodial parent that he has thirty days to advise the agency that he wishes to appeal the seizing of the assets. Upon receipt of such notice, the agency shall either release the property or schedule a hearing in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Such hearing may be conducted telephonically or by means of any other such electronic media. The sole issue at the administrative hearing shall be whether the payor is in compliance with an order of support or whether the custodial parent owes an overpayment of support. If the payor or custodial parent fails to file an appeal within thirty days, the agency may institute proceedings through administrative process to seize or sell the property in accordance with state law.
(b) Impose liens, force sale of property, and distribute proceeds in accordance with state law.
(2) Nothing in this Subsection shall grant administrative authority to the agency to place a lien, privilege, or legal mortgage on any licensed or titled motor vehicle.
E. Interstate cases.
The provisions of this Section shall also apply to the agency's handling of interstate cases when the agency has received, by electronic or other means, a request from another state to enforce a support order. Such transmittal shall constitute a certification by the requesting state of the amount of support under the order, the amount of arrears owed and that the requesting state has complied with all procedural due process requirements applicable to the case.
Acts 1997, No. 1248, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2006, No. 121, §1, eff. June 2, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 375, §1, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2010, No. 425, §2, eff. June 22, 2010; Acts 2010, No. 877, §3, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2012, No. 87, §1; Acts 2012, No. 255, §7; Acts 2016, No. 359, §1; Acts 2018, No. 194, §1.