Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 006 - Department of Finance and Administration › Division 25 - Office of Child Support Enforcement › Rule 006.25.95-003 - Investigator Responsibilities - License Suspension

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
4805
LICENSE SUSPENSION
Together, Act 752 of 1995 and §23 of Act 1184 of 1995 authorize
	 and establish procedures for the suspension of specified State issued licenses,
	 including commercial driver's and driver's licenses; permanent license plates;
	 and occupational, professional and business licenses of a noncustodial parent,
	 if certain conditions exist on a case. See Attachment A to this section for a
	 complete listing of all State issued licenses subject to suspension under this
	 section. When interviewing the noncustodial parent, the local IV-D office shall
	 request that the noncustodial parent allow the office to copy the noncustodial
	 parent's driver's (or commercial driver's) license and Social Security card for
	 identification purposes and for future reference. This information is to
	 &#9632; be maintained in the file at the local IV-D office. Quarterly, to
	 the extent available, field staff will receive printouts by social security
	 number of noncustodial parents holding State issued licenses subject to
	 suspension. All licensing authorities affected may not initially be capable of
	 interface automation with the IV-D data base. Field staff should periodically
	 make inquiries with custodial parents or other knowledgeable sources to
	 determine if a noncustodial parent holds a State issued license subject to
	 suspension under Act 752 or Act 1184 when either of the following two (2)
	 conditions exists on a case:
Condition 1 . NCP is delinquent on a court-ordered child support
	 payment in an amount equal to six (6) months obligation or more, or the NCP is
	 delinquent on payments toward an adjudicated arrearage in an amount equal to a
	 six (6) months obligation or more; or
Condition 2. NCP is the subject of an outstanding' failure to appear,
	 body attachment,, or bench warrant related to a child support
	 proceeding.
Note: If the NCP has filed bankruptcy, no action to suspend or revoke a
	 license should be taken unless an Order granting relief from the Automatic Stay
	 has been obtained from Bankruptcy Court. Consult with the responsible IV-D
	 attorney.
Exceptions
:
1) If the NCP was assessed retroactive
  support, the NCP may not be "delinquent" in his child support payments. For
  example, if the NCP is the putative father and the court finds him to be the
  legal father and invokes the law authorizing the setting of support
  retroactively, then the NCP is not delinquent because there was never an
  obligation to pay anything before the court date. "Instant debt" will not be
  considered an "adjudicated arrearage" for the purpose of this policy. The NCP
  must fail to pay on a retroactive support order for six (6) months or in a
  total amount equal to at least six' (6) months obligation before being subject
  to license suspension.
2) The NCP
  pays the delinquency below an amount equal to six (6) months
  obligation.
3) Noncustodial parents
  who are currently in compliance with a written agreement with OCSE requiring
  periodic installment payments for liquidation of a child support delinquency or
  adjudicated arrearage; noncustodial parents currently in compliance with their
  most recent court order reducing a child support arrearage to proper judgment
  and requiring periodic payments for liquidation of the judgment; or
  noncustodial parents who are currently making regular and periodic payments on
  a child support delinquency or adjudicated arrearage through income
  withholding.
4) The NCP enters an
  Agreed Order or written installment agreement with OCSE with instructions to
  pay current support plus an additional specified amount to be applied to the
  arrearage/delinquency. The Agreed Order or written installment agreement should
  contain a provision which stipulates that if the NCP becomes 30 days delinquent
  on the Agreed Order or written agreement, the license(s) affected will be.
  suspended immediately, and that the NCP specifically waives all rights to an
  administrative hearing or further notice prior to the suspension(s).
5) Noncustodial parents who are periodically
  making regular payments voluntarily, in an amount equal to current support,
  plus at least 10% toward liquidation of the arrearage/delinquency, or are
  paying to the extent permitted under Consumer Credit Protection Act guidelines.
4805.1
NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUSPEND
  NOTICE
If either Condition 1 or Condition 2 noted above exists and none of the
	 five (5) Exceptions apply, a Notice of Intent to Suspend License (OCSE-1695,
	 the "90 day Notice") will be mailed to the NCP by the responsible field office.
	 Notices should be sent certified mail to the most current address provided on .
	 the printout as provided by the licensing authorities or to the address
	 provided to the court by the NCP, unless a verified address has been obtained.
	 In the event a Notice sent by certified mail is rejected or unclaimed, a
	 subsequent mailing of the Notice by regular first class mail shall be
	 considered sufficient. The Notice will specifically identify all known
	 specified licenses and permanent license plates held by the noncustodial parent
	 to be suspended in 90 days, and it will inform the noncustodial parent of the
	 opportunity to request an Administrative Hearing within 60 days following
	 receipt of the 90 day Notice.
4805.2
INFORMAL COMPLAINT
  RESOLUTION
Following issuance of the 90-day notice (OCSE-1695), a NCP may avoid
	 license suspension by contacting the local IV-D office and entering into an
	 Agreed Order or written installment agreement with OCSE as described in
	 Exception 4 of Section 4805. Agreed Orders and written installment agreements
	 made after issuance of a 90-day notice should include a condition which
	 requires that some payment be made by the NCP before expiration of the 90-day
	 time frame following issuance of the OCSE-1695. In the event the NCP-contests
	 the accuracy of the arrearage information or the duration of the delinquency,
	 an appointment must be scheduled with the local IV-D office to resolve the
	 issue. The local IV-D office will promptly attempt to resolve the complaint.
	 Issues that can not be resolved by the local IV-D office should be forwarded to
	 Central Office for an Administrative Hearing if the NCP requests.
4805.3
LEGAL ISSUES
An Administrative Hearing can not clear an outstanding failure to
	 appear, body attachment, or bench warrant. These issues must be dealt with by
	 the court. The NCP should be advised that legal action would be required for a
	 determination on any of these issues. So long as the outstanding failure to
	 appear, body attachment, or bench warrant remains, adverse action for license
	 suspension must proceed under this policy.
4805.4
HEARING NOTICE AND PACKET
Referral packets for administrative hearings must contain copies of the
	 following:
* 90-day Notice (OCSE-1695)
* Noncustodial Party's request for a hearing
* Hearing statement completed by local office
* Copies of all child support orders
* Arrears summary
* Copies of any relevant correspondence between the NCP (or
	 representative) and the Office of Child Support Enforcement.
The packet should be routed to the Central Office, Attention: Appeals
	 and Hearings. The Appeals and Hearings Section will notify the NCP and the
	 responsible local IV-D office of the date, time and location of the hearing.
	 Also, the hearing scheduling notice shall recite that the NCP's failure to
	 appear for the scheduled hearing will be considered a choice to waive the
	 administrative hearing. The Appeals and Hearings Section will also confirm for
	 the initiating local IV-D office that the hearing packet has been received and
	 whether any additional information or documents are needed.
4805.5
SUSPENSION HEARING
Administrative hearings on license suspension will be conducted in
	 accordance with Section 7000, Rules of Order for Administrative Hearings, with
	 the exception that 60 days are allowed to request an administrative hearing
	 following receipt of the 90 day notice. Administrative hearings on license
	 suspension are limited to a determination whether either of the two (2)
	 Conditions under Section 4805 are present and whether any of the five (5)
	 Exceptions are satisfied.
4805.6
RIGHT OF APPEAL TO CHANCERY
  COURT OR THE JUVENILE DIVISION THEREOF
NCP's not satisfied with an agency administrative hearing decision have
	 the right of appeal to a court of appropriate jurisdiction. Within thirty (30)
	 days (60 days in the event of CDL suspension) from the effective date of the
	 suspension, the noncustodial parent may appeal the suspension action by filing
	 a petition in the chancery court or the juvenile division thereof as
	 appropriate of the county wherein the child support order was entered. The
	 petition is filed by the noncustodial parent with the appropriate Chancery
	 Clerk and must be accompanied with a copy of the Notice of Suspension attached,
	 or a copy of the final administrative hearing decision. The noncustodial parent
	 is responsible for causing the Chancery Court Clerk to issue a summons and
	 service of these documents on the OCSE Administrator. The case shall be tried
	 de novo, but a certified copy of the complete administrative hearing record and
	 transcript when available will be submitted to the Court by OCSE within 30 days
	 from the date of service on the agency or within such further time as the Court
	 may allow, but not exceeding an aggregate of 90 days.
Chancery and Juvenile Judges are vested with jurisdiction to determine
	 whether the petitioner is entitled to license reinstatement or whether the
	 decision of the hearing officer should be affirmed, modified, or
	 reversed.
For persons paying child support pursuant to Ark. Ann. §
											9-17-501
	 or §
											9-17-502,
	 the foreign order shall be registered by OCSE pursuant to §
											9-17-601
	 et seq.
4805.7
SUSPENSION AND REINSTATEMENTS
Central Office staff will have access to Driver Control files and will
	 be responsible for keying any suspensions or reinstatements of driver's and
	 commercial drivers licenses. All suspensions and reinstatements must be
	 submitted in writing to Central Office, Attention: Appeals and Hearings
	 Section. To ensure that the NCP is allowed 90 days from the receipt by mail of
	 the Notice of Intent to Suspend License (OCSE-1695), a copy of this Notice must
	 be retained in the case file with the signed certified mail receipt attached,
	 whenever available. NCP's who pay their arrearage below an amount equal to six
	 (6) months obligation must have their license reinstated. Following license
	 suspension, a noncustodial parent may obtain license reinstatement by entering
	 into an agreed order or written installment agreement with OCSE as described in
	 Section 4805, Exception #4. The Agreed Order or written installment agreement
	 should contain a provision requiring a lump sum payment in addition to
	 requiring the periodic payment of current support and regular periodic payments
	 on the arrearage/delinquency. It is imperative that the Central Office be
	 notified to immediately take necessary actions to restore the license or
	 permanent license plate of the noncustodial parent when the condition
	 warranting suspension has been removed - However, if the license has otherwise
	 expired, the NCP should be advised to contact the appropriate licensing
	 authority to obtain a new license.
In some instances, NCP's may initiate action on their own accord
	 resulting in a court order eliminating the presence of Condition 1 or 2 listed
	 in section 4805. If the NCP takes such action eliminating the threshold
	 condition for license suspension prior to the effective date of the intended
	 suspension, the responsible field office must immediately notify the Appeals
	 and Hearings Office to take action to set aside suspension activity* on the
	 case and to notify the NCP accordingly.
In the event of fraud or mistake, resulting in a wrongful suspension,
	 OCSE shall immediately notify the licensing authority involved to restore the
	 license or permanent license plate of the noncustodial parent as
	 appropriate.