ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION

ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION

CS 836P Supplemental Proceedings (Supp Order)

01/24/85 Revised 04/22/22 Training completed 05/13/22 Last Reviewed 11/04/24

Introduction

A Supplemental Proceeding is a legal procedure used by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to bring a noncustodial parent (NCP) before the court, place him/her under oath and question him/her about his/her income and assets. Supplemental proceedings are used as a last resort to identify a NCP’s income and assets and are not to take the place of good investigative techniques. If the NCP fails to appear after being personally served, the presiding judge may issue a bench warrant. Supplemental Proceedings are commonly referred to as a “Supp Order.”

Criteria

The case must meet the criteria listed below before you refer it to the AGO for a supplemental proceeding.

1. The case meets the enforcement criteria.

2. The NCP has a verified address for service. A post office box, incomplete address, or an address listed as “homeless” is not sufficient.

3. You have attempted to locate and enforce upon the NCP’s income and/or assets and have been unsuccessful. However, based upon your research, you have reason to believe the NCP has income and/or assets and the ability to make regular support payments. For example, you have determined that the NCP is able bodied and self-supporting but you have been unable to identify his/her source of income, such as wages or a bank account.

Procedures

1. Complete the “Enforcement Referral Form.” Indicate on the form the results of your research and information you want the AG to specifically identify (e.g., where the NCP is employed, the location of the NCP’s bank or credit union, how the NCP is meeting living expenses). Determine if the custodial parent’s (CP’s) or NCP’s case information has been safeguarded on ORSIS.

2. Initiate the AGO referral process on ORSIS.

3. If there is pending judicial action or a previous order, verify that the name listed on the judicial action is listed appropriately on ORSIS.

4. Write a narrative detailing the action being taken on the case.

5. Prepare the referral packet.

6. Refer the referral packet to the AGO.

NOTE: Referral packets and AG litigation files are the property of the AGO and will not be used by CSS nor returned to the agent once the judicial action is completed. CSS agents may not access the referral packets once they are referred to the AGO and may not obtain copies of any of the documents that may be contained in the AG litigation files.

Monitor all judicial referrals made to the AGO in order to ensure that federal timeframe standards are being met on the case and for any follow-up that is needed.

NOTE: The AGO will complete the Process Service process and complete the Process Service Worksheet when personal service is required. CSS agents should not complete this process or the process service forms at the time of referral.

Procedures – AGO Action Completed

When the judicial action through the AGO is completed, access ORSIS to determine if an action code has been added. If an action has not been completed, you must complete the AGO referral process.

Once a final result code has been committed, an event will be written to ORSIS and become part of the permanent case record. The referral is no longer visible.

NOTE: It is important that the correct ORSIS screen be completed and updated in order to track the status of the case.

When the AGO action is completed, the AGO will scan and import any orders and any additional documentation for the case directly into the assigned agent’s mailbox. The assigned agent is responsible to ensure that the order and all other additional documents have been received and are attributed into the correct item type with the appropriate form name(s). 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.

NOTE: If a paper document is received from the AGO that is on the imaging index, check the system to determine whether the document has already been imaged or if verify that the document needs to be sent to Central Imaging.

Refer to the case level narrative for any new information obtained as a result of the supplemental proceeding. Commence with enforcement action, if possible. If it is still not possible to take enforcement action, document the reasons in the case narrative.