CASE MANAGEMENT

CS 074P Federal and State Case Registry

10/97 Revised 09/02/25 Training Completed 09/16/25 Last Reviewed 09/29/25

Utah Code 26B-9-207; FCR Technical Assistance Guide

 

 

Statutory Authority

 

Utah Code 26B-9-207 states:

“(1)(a) Upon the entry of an order in a proceeding to establish parentage or to establish, modify, or enforce a support order, each party shall file identifying information and shall update that information as changes occur:

(i) with the court or administrative agency that conducted the proceeding; and

(ii) after October 1, 1998, with the state case registry.

(b) The identifying information required under Subsection (1)(a) shall include the person's Social Security number, driver's license number, residential and mailing addresses, telephone numbers, the name, address, and telephone number of employers, and any other data required by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

(c) In any subsequent child support action involving the office or between the parties, state due process requirements for notice and service of process shall be satisfied as to a party upon:

(i) a sufficient showing that diligent effort has been made to ascertain the location of the party; and

(ii) delivery of notice to the most recent residential or employer address filed with the court, administrative agency, or state case registry under Subsection (1)(a).”

 

The Federal Case Registry (FCR) is a national data base containing skeletal case information on child support cases and all support orders established or modified on or after October 1, 1998. The FCR is part of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) maintained by the federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS). For more information, refer to CS 146 Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) Locate Only Services, and CS 147 Locate Only: Parental Kidnapping, Child Custody or Visitation (Parent-time) Determination.

 

In October 1998 state IV-D agencies began to electronically transmit case and order information to the FCR about their IV-D and Non-IV-D cases. Whenever participant and/or case information is added or changed on the FCR, a search is automatically initiated against the FCR data base and the states with matching information are electronically notified. The Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) receives this information via ORSIS.

 

 

Case Information Transmitted to the FCR

 

Case information transmitted to the FCR includes:

 

1.                   The noncustodial parent’s (NCP’s) and custodial parent’s (CP’s) name;

2.                   Participant social security number (SSN);

3.                   Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN);

4.                   Participant date of birth (DOB);

5.                   The names and social security numbers of the children on the case;

6.                   ORS case number;

7.                   State Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code;

8.                   A “Y” or “N” indicator if there is an order for support; and,

9.                   An indicator that the information has been safeguarded if it has. The federal office refers to this as the “family violence data element.”

 

The following case information is NOT transmitted to the FCR:

 

1.                   Support order data;

2.                   Financial data; and,

3.                   Case type and function (except locate).

 

 

Non-IV-D Order Information Transmitted to the FCR

 

A Non-IV-D support order is defined as a support order from the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) with participants that do not match a IV-D case on ORSIS.

 

Non-IV-D support order information is sent from AOC to ORSIS. ORSIS compares the participant information to IV-D case information in ORSIS. If no matching case is found, ORSIS transmits the data to the FCR. Only Non-IV-D orders for at least one child age 18 or younger are transmitted. If the NCP’s or CP’s case information has been safeguarded by the court, AOC also transmits the safeguard indicator to ORSIS. ORSIS sends an indicator with the order information that requests the FCR to NOT release the information to other authorized agents.

 

 

Safeguarding Case Information Sent to the FCR

 

Federal and State laws require CSS to have a process for safeguarding case information that is transmitted to the FCR. This process prevents the release of information if such a release is prohibited by an order.

 

All required case information is automatically transmitted to the FCR. However, if the CP’s, NCP’s, or alleged father’s case information has been safeguarded, CSS will send an indicator along with the case information that asks the FCR to NOT release the information to other authorized agents. If the CP’s information is safeguarded, the child(ren)’s information is also safeguarded.

 

Parties may bring civil action against you if you knowingly or negligently disclose information in violation of this policy.

 

NOTE: CSS will release location information on a CP or NCP to the other parent or the other parent’s legal counsel provided certain conditions are met. Refer to CS 075P for more information. Refer to CS 035P Disclosure of Case Information – Outgoing Intergovernmental Referrals when you receive a specific request for case information from a responding state.

 

 

FCR Releasing Safeguarded Information

 

If an authorized person, as defined in CS 146P or CS 147P, requests information from the FCR and the request is returned with a message that disclosure is prohibited, the authorized requester may still be able to obtain the information by petitioning an authorized court for assistance. An authorized court is a court that has jurisdiction to enter, enforce, or modify a child support, child custody, or parent-time order.

 

The authorized person must petition the court to issue an order or request releasing the safeguarded information. If the court denies the petition there is no further action the requester may take. If the court grants the petition, an order is issued that releases the safeguarded information to the court. The court then determines if releasing the safeguarded information to the requester may be harmful. If there is risk of harm to a party involved, the safeguarded information is not released to the requestor. If the court determines there is no risk of harm, the safeguarded information is released. Refer to the procedures below to have safeguarded information released.

 

1.                   If the court grants the petition to release the safeguarded information, the court submits the order or request to the State Parent Locate Service (SPLS).

 

2.                   The SPLS follows the steps below.

a.                   Analyze the request.

i.                     Verify the request is for an authorized person (refer to CS 146P and CS 147P for the definition of an authorized person.)

ii.                   Verify the request is for an authorized purpose. An authorized purpose is one of the following:

A.                  Establishing parentage, establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations;

B.                  Making or enforcing child custody or parent-time orders; or,

C.                  Enforcing any state or federal law with respect to the unlawful taking or restraint of a child.

b.                   Send the order or request and the Family Violence Indicator Override Cover Letter to OCSS by certified mail.

 

3.                   OCSS completes the steps below.

a.                   Analyze the request.

i.                     Verify it is from an authorized person for an authorized purpose.

ii.                   Verify the cover letter is attached and includes the necessary information.

b.                   Make a determination.

i.                     Request is incomplete. Contact the SPLS for more information.

ii.                   Request is denied. Return the original request package and a disapproval letter to the SPLS. The disapproval letter will give the reason for the disapproval. OCSS will take no further action, unless a new request is submitted by the SPLS.

iii.                 Request is approved.

A.                  Notify the SPLS by telephone that the request was approved.

B.                  Proceed with the override. A one-time manual override of the safeguard indicator in order to respond to the requesting court. The indicator will be reinstate once the requested information is released.

C.                  Send the information appropriate to the request to the SPLS manager with a cover letter that includes the name of the state that imposed the safeguard indicator. Refer to CS 146P and CS 147P for the information that may be released.

D.                  Notify the state that imposed the safeguard of the state making the override request.

 

4.                   The SPLS will then send by certified mail the information to the court. Keep this information confidential when it is routed to the court.

 

5.                   The court reviews the information received and determines whether further disclosure may be harmful to the parent and/or child. If the court determines further disclosure may be harmful, neither the court nor its agents may make any disclosure. If the court determines further disclosure would not be harmful to the parent and/or child, then the information is released to the requesting party.