ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATION

CS 847P Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) Restrictions

New 07/01/21 Revised 09/03/24 Training Completed 09/17/24 Last Reviewed 11/04/25

Introduction and Statutory Authority

Utah Code 23A-4-1102 states:

“(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Child support" means the same as that term is defined in Section 26B-9-101.

(b) "Delinquent on a child support obligation" means that:

(i) an individual owes at least $2,500 on an arrearage obligation of child support based on an administrative or judicial order;

(ii) the individual has not obtained a judicial order staying enforcement of the individual's obligation on the amount in arrears; and

(iii) the office has obtained a statutory judgment lien pursuant to Section 26B-9-214.

(d) "Wildlife license agent" means a person authorized under Section 23A-4-501 to sell a license, permit, or tag in accordance with this chapter.

(2) (a) An individual who is delinquent on a child support obligation may not apply for, obtain, or attempt to obtain a license, permit, or tag required under this title, by rule made by the Wildlife Board under this title, or by an order or proclamation.

(b) (i) An individual who applies for, obtains, or attempts to obtain a license, permit, or tag in violation of Subsection (2)(a) violates Section 23A-4-1101.

(ii) A license, permit, or tag obtained in violation of Subsection (2)(a) is invalid.

(iii) An individual who takes protected wildlife with an invalid license, permit, or tag violates Section 23A-5-309.

(3) (a) The license, permit, and tag restrictions in Subsection (2)(a) remain effective until the office notifies the division that the individual who is delinquent on a child support obligation has:

(i) paid the delinquency in full; or

(ii) except as provided in Subsection (3)(d), complied for at least 12 consecutive months with a payment schedule entered into with the office.

(b) A payment schedule under Subsection (3)(a) shall provide that the individual:

(i) pay the current child support obligation in full each month; and

(ii) pays an additional amount as assessed by the office pursuant to Section 26B-9-219 towards the child support arrears.

(c) Except as provided in Subsection (3)(d), if an individual fails to comply with the payment schedule described in Subsection (3)(b), the office may notify the division and the individual is considered to be an individual who is delinquent on a child support obligation and cannot obtain a new license, permit, or tag without complying with this Subsection (3).

(d) If an individual fails to comply with the payment schedule described in Subsection (3)(b) for one month of the 12-month period because of a transition to new employment, the individual may obtain a license, permit, or tag and is considered in compliance with this Subsection (3) if the individual:

(i) provides the office with information regarding the individual's new employer within 30 days from the day on which the missed payment was due;

(ii) pays the missed payment within 30 days from the day on which the missed payment was due; and

(iii) complies with the payment schedule for all other payments owed for child support within the 12-month period.

(4)(a) The division or a wildlife license agent may not knowingly issue a license, permit, or tag under this title to an individual identified by the office as delinquent on a child support obligation until notified by the office that the individual has complied with Subsection (3).

(b) The division is not required to hold or reserve a license, permit, or tag opportunity withheld from an individual pursuant to Subsection (4)(a) for purposes of reissuance to that individual upon compliance with Subsection (3).

(c) The division may immediately reissue to another qualified person a license, permit, or tag opportunity withheld from an individual identified by the office as delinquent on a child support obligation pursuant to Subsection (4)(a).

(5) The office and division shall automate the process for the division or a wildlife license agent to be notified whether an individual is delinquent on a child support obligation or has complied with Subsection (3).

(6) The office is responsible to provide administrative or judicial review required incident to the division issuing or denying a license, permit, or tag to an individual under Subsection (4).

(7) The denial or withholding of a license, permit, or tag under this section is not a suspension or revocation of license and permit privileges for purposes of:

(a) Section 23A-4-1106;

(b) Subsection 23A-5-311(1); and

(8) This section does not modify a court action to withhold, suspend, or revoke a recreational license under Sections 26B-9-108 and 78B-6-315.”

This policy outlines the criteria necessary to restrict an individual from applying for or obtaining a fishing or hunting license, tag, or permit, and how an individual can have the restrictions removed.

Definitions

1. Child Support – Pursuant to 26B-9-101:

“(4)(a) "Child support" means a base child support award as defined in Section 81-6-101, or a financial award for uninsured monthly medical expenses, ordered by a tribunal for the support of a child, including current periodic payments, all arrearages that accrue under an order for current periodic payments, and sum certain judgments awarded for arrearages, medical expenses, and child care costs.

(b) "Child support" includes obligations ordered by a tribunal for the support of a spouse or former spouse with whom the child resides if the spousal support is collected with the child support.” (Emphasis added.)

2. Past-due Support – Pursuant to 45 CFR 301.1:

“Past-due support means the amount of support determined under a court order or an order of an administrative process established under State law for support and maintenance of a child, or of a child and the parent with whom the child is living, which has not been paid.”

Fishing and Hunting License, Tag, or Permit Restrictions

A case must meet certain criteria in order to be reported to the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). IVDS, FSTR and YCOR cases with an Auto Enforcement Indicator Code of ‘Y’ and arrears debts of $2,500.00 or more will be considered for delinquency.

When a noncustodial parent (NCP) has a child support case that meets the criteria, ORS will automatically report the NCP to DWR. DWR will restrict the NCP from applying for or obtaining a new fishing and/or hunting license, tag, or permit. Pursuant to U.C.A. 23A-4-1102(3)(a), the restrictions against the NCP will remain in effect until ORS notifies DWR that the NCP has met one of the following requirements:

1. The NCP has paid the delinquency in full; or,

2. The NCP has entered into a payment schedule with ORS and complied with that payment schedule for 12 consecutive months.

NOTE: At this time, ORS only looks to see if the month’s full current support has been paid, plus an additional amount has been paid towards the arrears in that same month. Retroactive payments also comply with the payment schedule beginning with the first full payment of current support AND an arrears payment within the same month.

To help illustrate this, at the beginning of May 2022 an NCP has a child support case that is in arrears for $2,575.00. ORSIS will review the payments received on the case for the last 12 months to see if the current support has been paid AND an amount has been paid towards the arrears. As shown in the chart below, April 2022 retroactive through May 2021 show that payments for current support and an amount going towards the arrears have been received. ORS will not report this case to DWR.

Months (April 2022 retroactive through May 2021)

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Pmts Made

Yes

In this next example using the same information listed above, ORSIS reviews the payments received on the case for the last 12 months and finds that payments for current support and an amount going towards arrears have been received for April 2022 retroactive through June 2021; however, in May 2021 a payment was not received (or only a partial payment for current support was made with no amount going towards the arrears). ORS will report this case to DWR to place a restriction on the NCP.

Months (April 2022 retroactive through May 2021)

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

May

Pmts Made

Yes

Continuing with this example, at the beginning of the following month (June 2022) the NCP’s case is in arrears for $2,502.00. ORSIS reviews the payments received on the case for the last 12 months (i.e., May 2022 retroactive through June 2021) and finds that payments for current support and an amount going towards arrears have been received.

Months (May 2022 retroactive through June 2021)

May

Apr

Mar

Feb

Jan

Dec

Nov

Oct

Sep

Aug

Jul

Jun

Pmts Made

Yes

Now that the case has received current support payments and an amount going towards arrears for the past 12 months, ORS will notify DWR to remove the restrictions placed on the NCP. The NCP can now obtain a license, tag or permit from DWR.

EXCEPTION: Pursuant to Utah Code 23A-4-1102(3)(d), the NCP may miss a payment for one month during the 12-month period and not be considered out of compliance if the missed payment is due to a transition to new employment and if:

· The NCP notifies ORS of the new employer within 30 days from the day on which the missed payment was due;

· The NCP makes up the missed payment within 30 days from the day on which the missed payment was due; and,

· The NCP complies with the payment schedule for all other payments owed for child support within the 12-month period.

NOTE: If you are contacted by the NCP regarding the missed payment due to new employment within 30 days from the day on which the missed payment was due and the NCP pays support for the missed month and the current month, review the NCP’s payment history to determine when the 12-month payment schedule began. Add appropriate narratives detailing any missed and/or made-up payments.

When monitoring a case for a 12-month payment period, set a self-alert to follow-up at the end of the 12-month period. After the 12-month period has passed, review the case with your supervisor, and then follow one of these two steps:

· If the NCP has complied with the payment schedule for all payments that are owed for each month remaining in the 12-month period, review the case with your supervisor. If the supervisor agrees with removing the block, the supervisor will send an email to the Business Advocate Unit (BAU) requesting removal of the block; or,

· If the NCP has not complied with the payment schedule for all payments that are owed for each month, no action is needed. The DWR restrictions on the NCP will remain in place until the NCP has made the full monthly current support payment and an additional payment amount toward the arrears for 12 consecutive months.

EXAMPLE 1: An NCP has a child support case that is in arrears for $2,731.00 as of July 1, 2021. ORS notifies DWR of the delinquency in child support, and DWR places a restriction on the NCP in the DWR system. The NCP pays the arrears balance in full on July 2, 2021. Once the payment is posted to the child support case, ORS notifies DWR that the NCP has complied with the requirements and DWR will remove the restriction placed on the NCP.

EXAMPLE 2: As of today, an NCP has a child support case that is in arrears for $4,355.00. The NCP has been making payments each month for the past 12 months for the full current support AND an additional amount towards the arrears on the case. Since the NCP has been making full current support payments AND an additional payment towards arrears on the child support case for the last 12 consecutive months, ORS WILL NOT report the NCP to DWR. If the payments stop for any reason and the arrears balance is still over $2,500.00, ORS WILL report the NCP to DWR, and the NCP will need to either pay the delinquency in full or enter into a payment schedule with ORS and comply with that payment schedule for 12 consecutive months.

EXAMPLE 3: An NCP has a child support case that is in arrears for $2,320.00. Since the arrears balance is less than $2,500.00, ORS will not report the NCP to DWR, and DWR will not restrict the NCP from applying for or obtaining fishing or hunting licenses, tags, or permits. Throughout the current month, the NCP only makes a partial payment towards the current child support obligation, and as of the beginning of the next month, the child support arrears are now $2,512.00. Now that the arrears balance is over $2,500.00, ORS will report the NCP to DWR, and DWR will place the restriction on the NCP until he/she either pays the delinquency in full or enters into a payment schedule with ORS and complies with that payment schedule for 12 consecutive months.

EXAMPLE 4: An NCP has a child support case that has two debts, and payments for current support and arrears are not being received. The NCP’s arrears balance for child support is $1,800.00 and the arrears balance for spousal support is $3,500.00. Since both debts are defined by statute as child support, the case meets the delinquency criteria and ORS will report the NCP to DWR for restriction.

EXAMPLE 5: An NCP has a child support case that is in arrears for $2,731.00. Payments for current support and an amount toward arrears are not being received. ORS reports the NCP to DWR, and DWR places the restriction on the NCP in the DWR system. The NCP contacts ORS in May 2021 and enters into a payment schedule with ORS and makes full payments (i.e., current support and an arrears payment) beginning in May 2021. Scheduled payments are received in June, July and August but not in September.

Months beginning May 2021

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Pmts Made

Yes

The NCP contacts ORS in October and explains the September payment was missed because of a transition to new employment. The NCP makes the missed September payment that day and the October payment is also made on time. The October payment shows that it has been received, and the September payment changes to show it has now been received.

Months beginning May 2021

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Pmts Made

Yes

Yes

A self-alert is created to be worked at the end of the 12-month payment schedule (i.e., May 1, 2022). The worker must verify that the NCP made full current support payments and an amount toward the arrears for each month of the 12-month period (i.e., May 2021 through April 2022), including making up any missed payments. After verifying this information, and thoroughly reviewing the case with the worker’s supervisor, an email is sent to BAU with the appropriate information. BAU will contact DWR and remove the NCP’s DWR restrictions.

Months beginning May 2021

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Pmts Made

Yes

Payment Schedules

When discussing a payment schedule with clients, workers should follow procedures outlined in the CS 700P series of policies. These policies include:

· CS 700P-1 Payment in Full at 100% or Discounted Settlements;

· CS 700P-2 Monthly Arrears Payment Options and Procedures;

· CS 700P-3 Discharge of IV-A Arrears/Forgiveness of Non-IV-A Arrears; and,

· CS 700P-4 Reassessment of Arrears Payment Procedures.

A payment schedule MUST include the full payment of current ordered child support and a payment toward the arrears balance. Individuals who are already making full monthly current child support payments and an additional payment towards child support arrears will automatically be considered as being on a payment schedule, as long as the payments continue without interruption. If payments become interrupted for a month for any reason, the NCP will need to contact ORS and either pay the arrearage in full or start over with a new payment schedule. ORS will only notify DWR when the arrears have been paid in full or the NCP has complied with a payment schedule for 12 consecutive months.

This agreement is only considered valid if:

· A full current support payment for each month is applied to the case within the month;

· An arrears payment amount is applied to the case within the month;

· These payments can be verified on the payment records screens in ORSIS on the case;

· The agreement can be clearly reviewed in ORSIS (unless as specified above); and,

· This happens every month for 12 consecutive months.

For individuals who start a new payment schedule, once the agreed-upon payments are made for 12 consecutive months, ORS will notify DWR that the requirements have been met and the NCP will be eligible to apply for, obtain, or attempt to obtain a license, permit or tag.

Manually Removing a DWR Restriction

There are situations where it will be appropriate for ORS to manually remove a DWR restriction. Manual removal of a DWR restriction requires either approval from the worker’s supervisor or through the worker’s management chain (i.e., supervisor, Associate Regional Director/Regional Director (ARD/RD) and CSS Director) depending on the situation. The types of situations and the level of approval needed are detailed below.

1. Situations that require only your supervisor’s approval include the following:

a. The case is paid in full. The NCP had an arrears debt of $2500 or more, ORS placed a DWR restriction on the case and the NCP has paid the delinquency in full;

b. The case is a Medical Monitor Only case (e.g., an open child support case transitions to a Medical Monitor Only case); and,

c. The case is closed (e.g., if ORS receives a call from the NCP regarding a DWR restriction on his/her closed case).

In the situations listed above, the worker must send an email to his/her supervisor for approval to manually remove the block. If the supervisor approves, the supervisor must send an email to BAU with the subject line “Unblock DWR” and request the block be manually removed. The BAU group will manually remove the block when the supervisor’s request is received.

2. Situations that require approval through the worker’s management chain are listed below. If the ARD, RD or CSS Director approves of the manual removal of a DWR restriction, they must send an email to BAU with the subject line “Unblock DWR” and request the block be manually removed. The BAU group will manually remove the block when the request from management is received.

NOTE: The list below is not all-inclusive. If there is a question about whether the DWR restriction can be manually removed that is not discussed in this policy or outlined below, consult with your management chain.

a. A payment did not post during the month it was due because of the employer’s payment schedule. For example, a federal employer sends payments to our office on the 1^st of each month; however, January’s payment gets posted at the end of December due to the holiday on January 1^st. To ORSIS, it appears that two payments were received in December and no payments were received in January, causing a block to be placed due to the “missed” payment in January. In this situation, if NCP requests the DWR restriction be removed, email your supervisor with the appropriate information. If the supervisor approves the manual removal of the DWR block, the supervisor will forward his or her approval of the request to manually remove the DWR restriction up the management chain.

b. Employer fails to remit payments. During the 12 consecutive month period, an employer fails to remit payments to ORS that had been withheld from the NCP’s paycheck for any months within the 12-month period and these missed payments have been made up. In this situation, you must research and review all documentation that the NCP has complied with the payment schedule. Research and documentation should include all of the following elements:

i. Pay period;

ii. Pay date;

iii. Amount withheld;

iv. Date ORS received the payment;

v. Amount received by ORS;

vi. Monthly current support amount;

vii. Arrears amount applied to the case; and,

viii. Any notes clarifying the missed or made-up payments.

NOTE 1: If a made-up payment is combined with a current payment that the employer is sending in, you must determine how much of the made-up payment applies to the missed payment.

NOTE 2: It may be helpful to create a tracking sheet with the items listed above to assist you in tracking the payment information. A tracking sheet may look something similar to the example below:

Pay Period	Pay Date	Amt Withheld	Date ORS received payment	Amount received by ORS	Monthly CRS due	Applied to arrears on case	Notes
6/20/21 to 7/3/21	7/4/21	$343.27	7/8/21	$343.27	$600.00	$0.00
7/4/21 to 7/17/21	7/18/21	$343.27	7/22/21	$0.00	$600.00	$0.00
7/18/21 to 7/31/21	8/1/21	$343.27	8/5/21	$343.27	$600.00	$0.00
8/1/21 to 8/14/21	8/15/21	$343.27	8/19/21	$343.27	$600.00	$86.54
8/15/21 to 8/28/21	8/29/21	$343.27	9/2/21	$343.27	$600.00	$0.00
8/29/21 to 9/11/21	9/12/21	$343.27	9/16/21	$343.27	$600.00	$86.54
9/12/21 to 9/25/21	9/26/21	$343.27	9/29/21	$343.27	$600.00	$343.27
7/4/21 to 7/17/21	7/18/21	$343.27	10/5/21	$343.27	$600.00	$0.00
9/26/21 to 10/9/21	10/10/21	$343.27	10/14/21	$343.27	$600.00	$86.54
10/10/21 to 10/23/21	10/24/21	$343.27	10/28/21	$343.27	$600.00	$343.27

In the example above, the NCP has been making full current monthly support payments and paying an amount toward the arrears for over 12 consecutive months. The case is currently unblocked because the NCP is complying with a payment schedule. On July 18, 2021, the employer withheld the regular amount from the NCP’s paycheck, but for some reason the employer failed to remit the payment to ORS. ORS received $0.00 for that pay period. This missed payment causes the NCP to no longer be complying with a payment schedule, and a block is placed on the NCP.

On October 5, 2021, the amount that was withheld on July 18^th was received by ORS. The NCP contacted ORS regarding the block that was placed on the NCP’s case and explained that the missed payment was due to the employer failing to send it to ORS. After research by the worker, it was determined that the employer did fail to remit the payment as required which caused the NCP to “miss” a payment, but then the missed payment was eventually made up. Add a detailed narrative regarding the research and review, then send an email to your supervisor. If the supervisor approves the manual removal of the DWR block, the supervisor will forward his or her approval of the request to manually remove the DWR restriction up the management chain.

c. An administrative error made (e.g., misposting or agency errors, etc.). Add a detailed narrative to the case regarding the research and review, then send an email to your supervisor. If the supervisor approves the manual removal of the DWR block, the supervisor will forward his or her approval of the request to manually remove the DWR restriction up the management chain.