2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 25 - Special Child Support Act (§§ 501 — 530) › § 509 - Service for locating persons; power to investigate

(a) The Administration shall offer the service of locating the persons who have abandoned their children or who have failed to comply with their obligation to provide child support. To such effect, and in order to obtain and collect support payments, the Administrator shall request any information and assistance he deems necessary from any department, agency, public corporation or body of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the municipalities, the federal government or of other states or jurisdictions, as well as from individuals, private entities and corporations for the purpose of identifying and locating the parent or the person legally responsible for providing child support, to determine the income, expenses and assets of the obligor or any other information needed to comply with the purposes of this chapter.
The Administrator, or the official whom he/she designates, shall be empowered to conduct the investigations he/she deems necessary, and for such purposes, may take oaths and statements and require, under admonishment of contempt, the appearance of witnesses and the presentation of data, books, letters, documents, papers, files and all information that is necessary and pertinent for a complete cognizance of the matters under investigation with respect to the functions conferred by this chapter, so that he/she can comply with the responsibilities thus assigned. Notwithstanding the provisions of other laws, the directors or secretaries of other departments, agencies, public corporations or bodies of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or of the municipalities, as well as the officials or agents of private corporations or entities, are directed to furnish whatever pertinent and necessary information that the Administrator requests. The information thus requested shall be furnished free of costs and fees. Access shall be provided to the Administration as well as to any federal agency performing duties under Title IV-D, to any information on the location of the obligor in any system used by the Department of Motor Vehicles or public safety organisms for the location of individuals, including, without it being understood as a limitation, the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
Should the person refuse to furnish the requested information, the Administrator shall resort to the Court of First Instance and request that compliance with the summons be ordered. The court shall give preference to the course and dispatching of said petition and shall issue orders making obligatory the presentation of data or information previously required by the Administrator. The Court of First Instance shall be empowered to punish for contempt the violation of these orders.
No person shall refuse to comply with a summons from the Administrator or his/her representative, or to produce the evidence required, or refuse to answer any question with respect to any investigation, or because the evidence required could incriminate him/her or expose him/her to a criminal procedure, or to be dismissed or suspended from his/her employment, profession or occupation; but the summons for testimony or information shall be subject to §§ 591 et seq. of Title 1, known as the “Act for the Proceedings and Granting of Immunity to Witnesses”.
The information obtained shall be confidential and shall only be used for the purposes authorized by this chapter. The Administrator, in turn, shall share the information with the federal agencies concerned.
(b) To expedite the location and the execution of actions against obligors, the government agencies that issue the following licenses or maintain records pertaining to the following matters shall develop appropriate procedures to guarantee that requests for obtaining said licenses, or records regarding such matters, contain the social security number of the respective requestor or individual subject to said matter, respectively: professional licenses, motor vehicle licenses, occupational licenses, marriage licenses, recreational or sports licenses, divorce decrees, child support orders, decrees and paternity recognitions, and death records and certificates.
History —Dec. 30, 1986, No. 5, p. 887, art. IV, § 10; Aug. 17, 1994, No. 86, § 18; Dec. 20, 1997, No. 180, § 4; Aug. 1, 2003, No. 178, § 11.