ESTABLISH ORDER

CS 1354P Children in Care (CIC) Referral to the Attorney general’s Office (AGO) for Order Establishment

12/06/04 Revised 07/23/26 Training Completed 08/06/26 Last Reviewed 08/04/26

NOTE: CIC-specific procedures contained in this section.

Introduction

At times, it is necessary and appropriate to refer a case that has no support order to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Refer to the sections below to determine when to create a referral to the AGO on a pre-order case.

Individuals who work at the Office of Recovery Services/Children in Care (ORS/CIC) and attorneys with the AGO who handle CIC cases do not represent the respondent(s) or his/her interests. The respondent(s) should seek private counsel for representation of his/her interests.

Refer to CS 350P Federal Regulations and State Laws and CS Appendix T-P Federal Performance Standards for IV-D Child Support for more information.

Criteria for Referral

Refer a pre-order case to the AGO if at least one of the criteria listed below applies.

1. The juvenile court grants a hearing after:

a. CIC issues a participation, default, or reconsideration order and the respondent(s) exercises his/her appeal rights and requests judicial review;

b. The respondent requests a hearing regarding their CIC case; or,

c. Either the respondent(s) or CIC requests a judicial review of an administrative order.

2. The court requests CIC participate in a judicial action.

3. The juvenile court order does not order the parents to pay child support while the child(ren) is in the care or custody of the state.

4. A guardianship case meets the review criteria and the juvenile court has terminated its jurisdiction.

5. CIC needs the juvenile court to provide clarification of a juvenile court order in order to continue with establish/enforcement actions.

EXAMPLE 1: The child is in a guardianship placement, there is no existing support order, and the juvenile court order does not require support to be paid while the child is placed with an individual other than the parents.

EXAMPLE 2: The juvenile court order orders more than one party to pay child support (e.g. the aunt and the parents) and after consulting with the assigned AAG, it remains unclear whom the juvenile court judge intended to pay support.

6. CIC joins Child Support Services (CSS) in an action in district court.

7. The parent(s) of the child in care is a minor.

Procedures for AGO Referral

Once you have determined that a referral needs to be made to the AGO for order establishment, take the steps listed below:

1. If the “Notice of Agency Action” (NAA) has not already been sent for service prior to the AGO referral, send the NAA in correlation with the AGO referral in order to meet federal timeframes for process service.

Once the NAA response timeframes have expired, the Presiding Officer (PO) will consult with the assigned AAG to determine whether to proceed with an administrative order at that time or to wait for the pending judicial action to result in a support order.

If an administrative order is established and a judicial order is established changing the monthly child support provision, the judicial order will supersede the administrative order child support provision from the date the judicial order is effective forward. If parentage was established in the administrative order, the judicial order does not disestablish or void the parentage unless specifically stated.

2. Ensure that each participant’s information is up to date in ORSIS. This includes their address information, employment information, and the participant’s physical description information (if it is available). Information in ORSIS will gather to the AGO referral form and the “Process Service Referral” form when the forms are generated

3. Review resources for any judicial action that may be pending or has been completed and has not been imaged into Content Manager. Narrate the results of the search.

4. Update ORSIS appropriately.

5. Generate the “AGO Referral Notice to Participants” letter and send it to the obligor on the case.

NOTE: If the case is being referred for criminal nonsupport (CNS), consult with the CNS AGO to determine if the letter should be sent. This will give the AAG an opportunity to evaluate the case for any potential risks due to the notification.

6. Complete the appropriate referral forms.

NOTE: If the assigned AAG determines that the referral packet is incomplete (e.g., the referral form is missing or questions on the form are left blank), the AAG will close the referral and notify the agent that the referral packet is incomplete and has been deleted. The agent will need to resubmit the referral.

7. If there is a pending judicial action, verify that the name listed on the judicial action is listed on ORSIS.

8. Write a narrative detailing the action being taken.

9. Prepare the referral packet. Ensure all documents needed for the referral have been imaged and added to the agent’s appropriate folder. The referral packet should include the following documents as an imaged form:

a. The “Other AG Referral” form.

NOTE: The AGO will include a “commence” date in the pleadings so that arrears may be recovered from the date forward. The date is based on the date you enter in the arrears “From” field on the form. Refer to CS 1086P CIC Guidelines for Charging Support and CS 1366P CIC Determining Arrears for a First-time Child Support Order when determining a “From” date. If a form was not prepared earlier, enter “Date Filed” instead. The AGO will attempt to file the judicial order with the court within 30 days of your referral.

b. A copy of the “Notice of Agency Action: Child Support” form that was previously prepared and sent for service to both parents.

c. A copy of the juvenile court order.

d. Genetic test results (if previously obtained on this case, or if done on any other cases involving the same mother and children).

e. Any out-of-state birth certificates, hospital records, or any other legal and personal documents of relevance.

f. Any documents showing that parentage has been previously established (if applicable).

g. Any documentation in support of previously-ordered support credit (i.e., a copy of the order).

h. Any financial declarations (i.e. the Financial Statement and supporting documentation).

i. Any documentation in support of present family credit (current spouse income, marriage certificate, birth certificates, evidence of parentage establishment, etc.).

j. Other items which may be unique to your office (e.g., prepared legal documents, service fee check for long-arm, etc.).

k. The “Income Worksheet.”

l. The appropriate Utah guidelines worksheet.

m. The original “Worksheet Income Verification Affidavit” signed by the agent and notarized by a Notary Public.

n. A photo (e.g. driver’s license photo) for process service.

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10. Send the referral packet to the assigned AAG’s mail. Include the ORS case number and note as to what the referral is. Also send an email to the assigned AAG and the AAG’s paralegal or legal assistant to let them know that the referral is being sent to the AAG’s mail in Content Manager.

NOTE: If the parents have separate cases and the AGO requests a referral packet for the other parent’s case, create a referral packet and forward it to the AGO.

Monitor all judicial referrals made to the assigned AAG in order to ensure that federal timeframe standards are being met on the case.

Agent Responsibilities at Hearing

An ORS agent is assigned to attend the court hearing with the assigned AAG. The responsibilities of the agent include providing court documents at the request of the assigned AAG and offering testimony during the hearing proceeding. At the hearing, three copies of each document should be provided to the AG including a separate copy for the AAG, judge, and the respondent(s).

Procedures – AGO Action Completed

When you are notified that the AGO action is complete, access ORSIS to determine if an action code has been added appropriately. If the appropriate field has not been completed, you must contact the assigned AAG to add an action code in ORSIS to close the referral (see exceptions below). An AGO referral is closed when the appropriate fields have been added. The referral is no longer visible on ORSIS after being closed.

NOTE: The referral can no longer be closed by an agent.

Review the action taken by the AGO by reviewing the AAG’s narrative.

EXCEPTIONS: There are two exceptions.

• If ORSIS has been coded appropriately, the AGO has requested that the agent complete new locate actions. Once you have located the appropriate case participant and updated ORSIS, create a new AG referral to complete the previously requested action.

• If ORSIS has been coded appropriately, the AGO has not completed the requested action. When the appropriate code is added, the AG referral will remain open. Review the case to determine if any further action is necessary. If not, contact the AGO to add an action code in ORSIS to close the referral.

When the AGO action is complete, the AGO will scan and import the order directly into the assigned agent’s mailbox in Content Manager. The assigned agent is responsible to ensure that the order and all other additional documents have been received and are attributed appropriately. If there are other cases that may be affected by the order, the agent must also attribute the order to those cases and notify the assigned worker, if appropriate, that a new order has been received and attributed to his/her case. Documents returning from the AGO that should be imaged include:

1. Any judicial enforcement orders;

2. A “purge agreement”, if appropriate;

3. Any Findings of Fact; and,

4. Any proofs of payments that are provided, if appropriate.