English
Español119. Paternity and Child Support Division
(a) There is established within the Department of Justice a Paternity and Child Support Division. This Division is the designated state agency of the approved State Plan under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, and is responsible for the administration and operation of the State Plan within the Virgin Islands. The Division is also responsible for and shall ensure compliance with the requirements of the State Plan, the Title IV-D program and any other program as may be required by Public Law 93-647, as amended from time to time. The Attorney General shall effect an administrative procedure to establish paternity and to establish, modify and enforce support orders in Virgin Islands and interstate cases within the Paternity and Child Support Division, so that, in Title IV-D cases requiring the establishment of a support order, regardless of whether paternity has been established, actions to establish support obligations or actions to dismiss same are completed within time frames established by rules and regulations and as otherwise required by applicable federal law and regulation. The Attorney General shall make and promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out its functions.
(b) The Director of the Paternity and Child Support Division, or his or her designee, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, shall have the authority to take the following actions, in both intrastate and interstate child support enforcement cases, without the necessity of obtaining an order from either the Superior Court or the Administrative Hearing Office, or from any other judicial or administrative tribunal of another state, and all entities identified below, without exception, shall recognize the authority of Title IV-D agencies of other states to take the following actions:
(1) To order genetic testing for the purpose of establishing paternity;
(2) To issue subpoenas for any financial or other information needed to establish, modify or enforce a support order;
(3) To require all entities in the Virgin Islands, and, if the Division issues the request, those of any other state, (including for-profit, nonprofit and governmental employers) to provide promptly, in response to a request by the Division or any other state Title IV-D agency, information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual employed by such entity as an employee or contractor. For purposes of this subsection, ‘employee‘ means an individual who is an employee within the meaning of chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(4) To obtain access to the following information for the sole purpose of fulfilling Title IV-D functions, subject to the nonliability of entities that provide the access, and subject to all safeguards on privacy and information security as established by applicable territorial or federal law and regulations:
(A) records maintained by all Virgin Islands Government agencies, and, if the Division requests access, substantially similar agencies in other states, including, but not limited to, vital statistics, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, records related to real and titled property, records of occupational and professional licenses, records concerning ownership and control of corporations, partnerships and other businesses, employment security records, records of all agencies administering public assistance programs, records of the motor vehicle department, and corrections records.
(B) pursuant to subpoena, certain records held by private entities, such as public utilities, cable television companies and financial institutions, whether located in the Virgin Islands, and, if the Division issues the subpoena, any other state, with respect to individuals who are subject to a pending or existing child support action, consisting of the names and addresses of such individuals, and, with respect to financial institutions, information on assets and liabilities.
(5) In any support action, whether issued by the Superior Court, the Administrative Hearing Office or any other authorized tribunal, upon notice to the obligor and obligee, and whenever otherwise appropriate, to direct the obligor or other payor to change the payee to the Division or to another appropriate government entity;
(6) To order income withholding pursuant to Title 16, section 355 of this Code or, if ordered by another state, pursuant to that state’s applicable law or pursuant to Title 16, Chapter 13, Subchapter II of this code, and, in cases in which there is a support arrearage, to include an amount up to 30% of current support in addition to current support for the purpose of securing overdue support;
(7) In cases in which there is a support arrearage, to secure assets in the Virgin Islands and, if initiated by the Division, any other state, in order to satisfy the arrearage by:
(A) issuing an order to intercept or seize periodic or lump-sum payments from the unemployment agency, from the Workers Compensation agency, from judgments, settlements and lotteries, and by issuing an order to attach and seize assets of the obligor held in financial institutions or to attach and seize an obligor’s public and private retirement funds; and
(B) imposing liens in accordance with Title 16, section 375 of this code to force the sale of property and the distribution of proceeds.
(c) Administrative enforcement actions taken pursuant to subsection (b), paragraphs (1), (5), (6) and (7) of this section shall be subject to notice to the affected parties, and such notice shall provide notice of the right to file an appeal with the Administrative Hearing Office based on mistake of fact. ‘Mistake of fact‘, for purposes of this section, shall mean an error in the amount of the current or overdue support or in the identity of the alleged obligor.
(d) Whoever willfully disobeys or fails to comply with a subpoena or request issued by the Paternity and Child Support Division, pursuant to Title 4, section 601 of this code, and pursuant to subsections (a)(2), (3), and (4) of this section, or whoever willfully disobeys or fails to comply with a subpoena issued by any other state’s Title IV-D Child Support Enforcement Agency pursuant to this section, shall be guilty of contempt and subject to the penalties as provided in Title 14, section 585 of this code, and subject to the issuance of a warrant for arrest pursuant to Title 5, section 654 of this code. Subpoenas issued pursuant to this section, if in conformance with subpoenas mandated by federal law for use in interstate child support actions, shall be deemed to be substantially in the form required by Title 4, section 602 of this code. The Division shall enforce the authority of other states to act pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, whenever appropriate.
(e) Administrative enforcement actions in interstate cases, taken pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, with respect to income withholding, imposition of liens, and issuance of administrative subpoenas in interstate child support cases, shall be on forms as provided for in rules and regulations, and as required by 42 U.S.C. 652(a)(11), and shall, whenever applicable, be in conformance with the provisions of Title 16, Chapter 13, Subchapter III, Administrative Enforcement In Interstate Cases of this code.
(f) The Paternity and Child Support Division shall, to the extent feasible, use its automated child support enforcement system, known as VIPERS, or any substantially similar system, to implement the expedited administrative procedures required by this section.
