Chapter 356
AN ACT
HB 2124
Relating to administration of child support program; amending ORS
18.790, 25.280, 25.411 and 418.135 and section 1, chapter 83, Oregon Laws 2005.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 18.790 is amended to read:
18.790. (1) Except as
provided in subsection (2) of this section, the garnishor must pay a $10 search
fee at the time of delivery of any writ of garnishment on a financial
institution, or at the time a notice of garnishment is delivered to the
financial institution under ORS 18.854. A separate search fee must be delivered
to the financial institution for each debtor if the writ is issued for more
than one debtor under ORS 18.607 (5). If the search fee required by this section
is not paid:
(a) The garnishment is
not effective to garnish any property of the debtor; and
(b) The financial
institution need not file a garnishee response.
(2) The search fee
provided for in this section need not be paid to a financial institution if the
debtor is an employee of the financial institution.
(3) Notwithstanding
subsection (1) of this section, a financial institution may enter into an
agreement with any state agency authorized to garnish pursuant to ORS 18.645
or 18.854 for periodic billing and payment of garnishee search fees
required under this section.
(4) The right of a
financial institution to receive the search fee provided for in this section
does not in any way restrict or impair the right of the financial institution
to charge and collect an additional garnishment processing fee from any debtor
whose property the financial institution holds, or to whom the financial
institution owes money. However, a financial institution may not charge or
collect a garnishment processing fee in violation of ORS 652.610. If a
financial institution charges a garnishment processing fee, the financial
institution may collect the fee by deducting the amount of the fee from any
amount that the financial institution owes to the debtor.
SECTION 2. Section 1, chapter 83, Oregon Laws 2005, is
amended to read:
Sec.
1. (1) As used in this section:
(a) “Administrator” has
the meaning given that term in ORS 25.010.
(b) “Child support
judgment” has the meaning given that term in ORS 25.089.
(2) Notwithstanding the
provisions of ORS 25.089, 25.091 and 416.448 to the contrary, the monetary
support terms of a child support judgment originating under ORS 416.440 are
terminated by the monetary support terms of a later-issued child support
judgment of a court if:
(a) The two child
support judgments involve the same obligor and child and the same period;
(b) The administrator
was providing services under ORS 25.080;
(c) The later-issued
child support judgment was entered before January 1, 2004;
(d) The administrator or
a court gave the later-issued child support judgment precedence over the
earlier-issued child support judgment originating under ORS 416.440; and
(e) All parties had an
opportunity to challenge the amount of child support ordered in the later-issued
child support judgment.
(3) Notwithstanding the
provisions of ORS 25.091 (11) and 416.448 (7), for purposes of reconciling any
monetary support arrears or credits under the two child support judgments
described in subsection (2) of this section:
(a) The monetary support
terms of the child support judgment originating under ORS 416.440 are deemed
terminated on the effective date of the later-issued child
support judgment [was entered as
described in ORS 18.075]; and
(b) Entry of the
later-issued child support judgment does not affect any support payment
arrearage or credit that has accrued under the earlier-issued child support
judgment originating under ORS 416.440.
SECTION 3. ORS 25.280 is amended to read:
25.280. In any judicial
or administrative proceeding for the establishment or modification of a child
support obligation under ORS chapters 107, 108, 109, 110 or 416 [and 416, and ORS chapter 110] or ORS
419B.400, 419B.923, 419C.590 or 419C.610, the amount of support determined by
the formula established [pursuant to ORS
25.270 to 25.287, 107.105, 416.415, 416.435 and 419B.400 or 419C.590 shall be]
under ORS 25.275 is presumed to be the correct amount of the obligation.
This [shall be] is a
rebuttable presumption and a written finding or a specific finding on the
record that the application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate in
a particular case [shall be] is
sufficient to rebut the presumption. The following criteria shall be considered
in making the finding:
(1) Evidence of the other
available resources of a parent;
(2) The reasonable
necessities of a parent;
(3) The net income of a
parent remaining after withholdings required by law or as a condition of
employment;
(4) A parent’s ability
to borrow;
(5) The number and needs
of other dependents of a parent;
(6) The special
hardships of a parent including, but not limited to, any medical circumstances
of a parent affecting the parent’s ability to pay child support;
(7) The needs of the
child;
(8) The desirability of
the custodial parent remaining in the home as a full-time parent and homemaker;
(9) The tax
consequences, if any, to both parents resulting from spousal support awarded
and determination of which parent will name the child as a dependent; and
(10) The financial advantage
afforded a parent’s household by the income of a spouse or another person with
whom the parent lives in a relationship similar to husband and wife.
SECTION 4. ORS 25.411 is amended to read:
25.411. (1) The
withholder shall start withholding not later than [five days after the first payday following receipt of the order to
withhold.] the first pay period occurring five days after the date of
the order to withhold. However, if on the date the employer receives the order
the employer has already calculated the payroll for that pay period and has
prepared the paycheck or submitted a deposit for that payroll, the employer
shall start withholding no later than the second pay period occurring after the
date of the order to withhold.
(2) Within seven business
days after the date the obligor receives income, the withholder shall pay amounts withheld to the Department of Justice or
to the obligee by deposit into the obligee’s bank account, whichever is
specified in the order to withhold. The withholder shall include, with the
payment, the obligor’s name and case number and the date upon which the income
was withheld.
(3) When payments are
made to the Department of Justice, the withholder may combine amounts withheld
from different obligors’ incomes in a single payment as long as such payment is
accompanied by a list that separately identifies which portion of the payment
is attributable to each obligor, the obligor’s name and case number, if any.
(4) As used in this
section, [the term] “business day”
means a day on which the Department of Justice is open for regular business.
SECTION 5. ORS 418.135 is amended to read:
418.135. (1) All state,
county and city agencies, officers and employees shall cooperate in the
location of parents who have abandoned or deserted, or are failing to support,
children receiving or applying to receive public assistance and shall on
request supply the Department of Human Services, the Division of Child Support
of the Department of Justice or the district attorney of any county in the
state with all information on hand relative to the location, income and
property of such parents, including information disclosed to the Division of
Child Support under ORS 314.840 (2)(j). The granting of aid to the
applicant shall not be delayed or contingent upon receipt of the answer to such
requests by the Department of Human Services, the Division of Child Support or
the district attorney. The Department of Human Services shall use such
information only for the purposes of administration of public assistance to
such children, and the district attorney and the Division of Child Support
shall use such information only for the purpose of enforcing the liability of
such parents to support such children, and neither shall use the information or
disclose it for any other purpose. Any person who violates this prohibition
against disclosure, upon conviction, is punishable as provided in ORS 314.991
(2).
(2) The Department of
Human Services shall cooperate with the Division of Child Support or the district
attorney prosecuting or considering the prosecution of such parent for
nonsupport and shall report to the Division of Child Support or the district
attorney all information contained in the case record which concerns the
question of nonsupport and the suitability of prosecution as a method of
obtaining support for the child in each case.
Approved by the Governor June 12, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 13, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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