SCS CSHB 514(JUD): "An Act relating to child support modification and enforcement, to the establishment of paternity by the child support enforcement agency, and to the crimes of criminal nonsupport and aiding the nonpayment of child support; amending Rule 90.3, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 514(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to child support modification and enforcement, to the establishment of 02 paternity by the child support enforcement agency, and to the crimes of criminal 03 nonsupport and aiding the nonpayment of child support; amending Rule 90.3, Alaska 04 Rules of Civil Procedure; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 11.51.120(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) A person commits the crime of criminal nonsupport if, being a person 08 legally charged with the support of a child [UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE,] the person 09 intentionally fails, without lawful excuse, to provide support for the child. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 11.51.120(c) is repealed and reenacted to read: 11 (c) Except as provided in (d) of this section, criminal nonsupport is a class A 12 misdemeanor. 13 * Sec. 3. AS 11.51.120 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 14 (d) Criminal nonsupport is a class C felony if the support the person failed to
01 provide is monetary support required by a court or administrative order from this or 02 another jurisdiction and, at the time the person intentionally failed, without lawful 03 excuse, to provide the support, 04 (1) the aggregate amount of accrued monetary child support arrearage 05 is $20,000 or more; 06 (2) no child support payment has been made for a period of 24 07 consecutive months or more; or 08 (3) the person had been previously convicted under this section or a 09 similar provision in another jurisdiction and 10 (A) the aggregate amount of accrued monetary child support 11 arrearage is $5,000 or more; or 12 (B) no child support payment has been made for a period of six 13 months or more. 14 (e) In addition to the provisions of (c) and (d) of this section, criminal 15 nonsupport is punishable by loss or restriction of a recreational license as provided in 16 AS 12.55.139. 17 (f) In this section, 18 (1) "child" means a person 19 (A) under 18 years of age; or 20 (B) 18 years of age or older for whom a person is ordered to 21 pay support under a valid court or administrative order; 22 (2) "child support" means support for a child; 23 (3) "without lawful excuse" means having the financial ability to 24 provide support or having the capacity to acquire that ability through the exercise of 25 reasonable efforts. 26 * Sec. 4. AS 11.51 is amended by adding a new section to read: 27 Sec. 11.51.121. Aiding the nonpayment of child support in the first 28 degree. (a) A person commits the crime of aiding the nonpayment of child support in 29 the first degree if the person violates AS 11.51.122 and the person knows the obligor 30 (1) has an aggregate amount of accrued monetary child support 31 arrearage of $20,000 or more;
01 (2) has not made a child support payment for a period of 24 02 consecutive months or more; or 03 (3) had been previously convicted under AS 11.51.120 or a similar 04 provision in another jurisdiction and 05 (A) has an aggregate amount of accrued monetary child support 06 arrearage of $5,000 or more; or 07 (B) has not made a child support payment for a period of 24 08 consecutive months or more. 09 (b) Aiding the nonpayment of child support in the first degree is a class C 10 felony. 11 (c) In addition to the penalties under (b) of this section, aiding the nonpayment 12 of child support in the first degree is punishable by loss or restriction of a recreational 13 license as provided in AS 12.55.139. 14 * Sec. 5. AS 11.51.122(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) A person commits the crime of aiding the nonpayment of child support in 16 the second degree if the person [(1)] knows that an obligor has a duty under an 17 administrative or judicial order for periodic payment of child support or for the 18 provision of health care coverage for a child under a medical support order [;] and 19 (1) being a person with a statutory duty to disclose information to 20 a child support enforcement agency [(2)] intentionally [(A)] withholds the 21 information [ABOUT THE RESIDENCE OR EMPLOYMENT OF THE OBLIGOR] 22 when it [THAT INFORMATION] is requested by a child support enforcement 23 agency; 24 (2) [(B)] being an employer of the obligor, intentionally withholds 25 information about the residence or employment of the obligor, the eligibility of the 26 obligor's children for coverage under the employer's health insurance plan, or 27 [ABOUT] the cost of the coverage of the children under the plan, when that 28 information is requested by a child support enforcement agency or when the 29 employer is required by state or federal law to report the information without a 30 request by a child support enforcement agency; or 31 (3) intentionally [(C)] participates in a commercial, business, [OR]
01 employment, or other arrangement with the obligor, knowing at the time that the 02 arrangement is made that it will allow the obligor to avoid paying all or some of the 03 support when it is due or to avoid having a lien placed on assets for the payment of 04 delinquent support; receipt of a substantial asset for less than fair market value from 05 an obligor after the obligor's support order has been established constitutes a 06 rebuttable presumption that the person receiving the asset knew that the transfer would 07 allow the obligor to avoid paying all or some of the support or to avoid having a lien 08 placed on the asset. 09 * Sec. 6. AS 11.51.122(b) is amended to read: 10 (b) In a prosecution under (a)(2) and (3) [(a)(2)(B) AND (C)] of this section, 11 it is a defense that the 12 (1) defendant did not intend to assist the obligor in the nonpayment of 13 child support or in the avoidance of a duty to provide health care coverage of a child; 14 or 15 (2) obligor did not intend to avoid paying child support or to avoid 16 providing health care coverage of a child. 17 * Sec. 7. AS 11.51.122(d) is amended to read: 18 (d) Aiding the nonpayment of child support in the second degree is a class A 19 misdemeanor. 20 * Sec. 8. AS 11.51.122 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 21 (e) In addition to the penalties under (d) of this section, aiding the nonpayment 22 of child support in the second degree is punishable by loss or restriction of a 23 recreational license as provided in AS 12.55.139. 24 (f) In this section, "child" and "child support" have the meaning given in 25 AS 11.51.120. 26 * Sec. 9. AS 12.55.139 is amended to read: 27 Sec. 12.55.139. Penalties for criminal nonsupport. In addition to other 28 penalties imposed for the offense of criminal nonsupport under AS 11.51.120, the 29 court may suspend, restrict, or revoke, for the period during which the arrearage 30 continues to exist [FOR A PERIOD NOT TO EXCEED SIX MONTHS], a 31 recreational license as defined in AS 09.50.020(c), if the defendant is a natural person.
01 * Sec. 10. AS 12.55.139 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 02 (b) In addition to other penalties imposed for the offense of aiding the 03 nonpayment of child support in the first degree under AS 11.51.121 and for the 04 offense of aiding the nonpayment of child support in the second degree under 05 AS 11.51.122, the court may suspend, restrict, or revoke, for a period not to exceed 06 one year, a recreational license as defined in AS 09.50.020(c), if the defendant is a 07 natural person. 08 * Sec. 11. AS 22.10.020 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 09 (j) The superior court, in an action for divorce, separation, or child support, 10 may issue orders to aid in the enforcement of child support, including orders requiring 11 an individual who owes support under an order of support to 12 (1) make payments according to an approved payment plan; 13 (2) participate in appropriate work activities if the individual is not 14 incapacitated; or 15 (3) complete and submit an application for a permanent fund dividend 16 under AS 43.23.015 or provide proof to the agency or the court that the individual is 17 not eligible for a dividend in a given year. 18 * Sec. 12. AS 25.27.020(d) is amended to read: 19 (d) The agency may issue an administrative order or request a court order that 20 requires an individual in arrears under an order of support for a child who is receiving 21 assistance under AS 47.07, or under AS 47.25.310 - 47.25.420 or a successor program, 22 or for a child whose parent, guardian, or designee of the parent or guardian has 23 applied for aid from the agency under AS 25.27.100, to make payments according 24 to an approved payment plan or, if the individual is not incapacitated, to participate in 25 appropriate work activities. 26 * Sec. 13. AS 25.27.020 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 27 (f) The agency shall, by regulation, establish procedures and standards for the 28 forgiveness of an arrearage owed to the state under AS 25.27.120. The agency may 29 forgive arrears under this section, with the approval of the commissioner and without 30 the approval of the Department of Law, if 31 (1) the obligor
01 (A) has or obtains employment for which income withholding 02 is initiated under AS 25.27.250 within 60 days after the date the obligor is 03 approved for the forgiveness program; 04 (B) enrolls in and successfully completes an employment 05 training program approved by the agency and obtains employment for which 06 income withholding is initiated under AS 25.27.250 within 30 days after 07 completion of the employment training program; or 08 (C) enters into an agreement with the agency for alternative 09 payment procedures if the agency determines that there are unusual 10 circumstances justifying a waiver of income withholding; and 11 (2) the obligor is in compliance with additional requirements and 12 limitations imposed by the agency by regulation to assure that forgiveness of the 13 arrearage is in the best interest of the child and of the state; and 14 (3) the obligor makes monthly payments pursuant to a payment 15 agreement approved by the agency; if the obligor misses more than two monthly 16 payments in a calendar year or more than two consecutive payments without approval 17 of the agency for good cause, the obligor will not be eligible to continue in the arrears 18 forgiveness program under this section. 19 (g) During each year in which an obligor complies with the requirements for 20 the forgiveness of an arrearage under (f) of this section and any regulations adopted by 21 the agency under that subsection, the agency may forgive up to 20 percent of the total 22 arrearage owed to the state under AS 25.27.120, including any interest owed on that 23 debt. For purposes of determining the amount of the forgiveness, the arrears will be 24 calculated as of the date the obligor is approved for participation in the forgiveness 25 program. 26 (h) The agency may establish by regulation requirements and limitations on 27 eligibility in addition to those stated in (f) and (g) of this section. 28 * Sec. 14. AS 25.27.040(b) is amended to read: 29 (b) The agency may not attempt to establish paternity in any case 30 (1) involving incest or forcible rape, unless the mother of the child is 31 legally competent and requests the establishment of paternity; in this paragraph,
01 "forcible rape" means sexual assault in the first degree under AS 11.41.410 or a 02 conviction under a law or ordinance from another jurisdiction with similar 03 elements; "forcible rape" includes adjudications of delinquency for acts with 04 elements similar to AS 11.41.410; 05 (2) when legal proceedings for adoption are pending; [,] or 06 (3) when it would not be in the best interests of the children or the 07 state. 08 * Sec. 15. AS 25.27.080(b) is amended to read: 09 (b) The agency on behalf of the custodian or the state shall take all necessary 10 action permitted by law to enforce child support orders [SO ENTERED], including 11 petitioning the court for orders to aid in the enforcement of child support. 12 * Sec. 16. AS 25.27.190(e) is amended to read: 13 (e) Modification or termination of future periodic support payments may be 14 ordered upon a showing of good cause and material change in circumstances. The 15 adoption or enactment of guidelines or a significant amendment to guidelines for 16 determining child support is a material change in circumstances, if the guidelines are 17 relevant to the petition. As necessary to comply with 42 U.S.C. 666, a periodic 18 modification of child support may be made without a showing of a material 19 change in circumstances if the child support order being modified on the periodic 20 basis has not been modified or adjusted during the three years preceding the 21 periodic modification. 22 * Sec. 17. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 23 read: 24 INDIRECT COURT RULE AMENDMENT. Section 16 of this Act has the effect of 25 changing Rule 90.3, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, by changing the grounds for modifying 26 a support order. 27 * Sec. 18. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 28 read: 29 TWO-THIRDS VOTE NOT REQUIRED. Because Rule 90.3, Alaska Rules of Civil 30 Procedure, was adopted under the Alaska Supreme Court's interpretive authority exercised 31 under art. IV, sec. 1, Constitution of the State of Alaska, sec. 16 of this Act takes effect for
01 purposes of Rule 90.3, Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure, without needing to meet the two- 02 thirds vote requirement normally applicable to changing court rules under art. IV, sec. 15, 03 Constitution of the State of Alaska. 04 * Sec. 19. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 05 read: 06 APPLICABILITY. (a) The provisions of AS 11.51.120(d)(1) and (d)(3)(A), enacted 07 by sec. 3 of this Act, and the provisions of AS 11.51.121(a)(1) and (a)(3)(A), enacted by sec. 08 4 of this Act, apply to monetary arrearages that have accrued before the effective date of this 09 Act, but only if the person fails to provide monetary support in violation of AS 11.51.120, as 10 amended by secs. 1, 2, and 3 of this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act or the person 11 aids in the nonpayment of child support in the first degree under AS 11.51.121, as enacted by 12 sec. 4 of this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act, as applicable. 13 (b) The provisions of AS 11.51.120(d)(2) and (d)(3)(B), enacted by sec. 3 of this Act, 14 and the provisions of AS 11.51.121(a)(2) and (a)(3)(B), enacted by sec. 4 of this Act, apply to 15 nonpayment of child support in violation of AS 11.51.120, as amended by secs. 1, 2, and 3 of 16 this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act or to aiding the nonpayment of child support 17 in the first degree under AS 11.51.121, as enacted by sec. 4 of this Act, on or after the 18 effective date of this Act, as applicable. 19 * Sec. 20. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 20 read: 21 TRANSITION. The forgiveness program authorized under AS 25.27.020(f) and (g), 22 as enacted in sec. 13 of this Act, may not be implemented until the agency has adopted 23 regulations setting standards and procedures for the program. Regulations under this section 24 must be adopted within nine months after the effective date of this section. 25 * Sec. 21. This Act takes effect July 1, 2004.