Jackson v. Rapps

132 F.R.D. 226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18993, 1990 WL 136148
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedAugust 13, 1990
DocketNo. 89-4022-CV-C-5
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 132 F.R.D. 226 (Jackson v. Rapps) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Rapps, 132 F.R.D. 226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18993, 1990 WL 136148 (W.D. Mo. 1990).

Opinion

ORDER

SCOTT 0. WRIGHT, District Judge.

Before this Court is the motion of plaintiff Glenda Jackson for class action certification in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against defendant William R. Rapps, Director of the Missouri Division of Child Support Enforcement. Ms. Jackson challenges the Director’s method of setting the amounts allegedly owed by the non-custodial parent to the State as reimbursement for the State’s Aid to Dependent Children payments to the children of the non-custodial parents. Ms. Jackson alleges that the Director’s method violates the United States Constitution. In accordance with the reasoning in this order, this Court grants plaintiff’s motion for class action certification.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. Statutory Framework

The State of Missouri, through the Division of Child Support Enforcement (“DCSE”), participates in the joint state/federal Child Support Enforcement Program under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651-665 (1988), and the Federal Regulations promulgated pursuant to the Act, 45 C.F.R. § 302.1-307.12 (1989). Under federal law, the DCSE is responsible for the administration of the program in the State of Missouri. The State is required to adopt a state plan in conformity with the Federal Regulations established for the administration of the program by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. 45 C.F.R. § 302.1-302.12 (1989).

The Federal Regulations and state statutes require that all applicants for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (“AFDC”) assign to the State any rights to support owed from any other person, which includes child support payments. 45 C.F.R. § 232.11(a)(1) (1989); Mo.Rev.Stat. § 208.040 (Supp.1990). The Federal Regulations and the state statutes also provide methods for determination of the amount of any support owed in the form of arrearages and future child support payments. The Federal Regulations provide two alternative methods of determining the amount owed:

(a) the support rights assigned to the IV-D agency pursuant to [45 C.F.R.] § 232.11 of this title or section 471(a)(17) of the Act constitute an obligation owed to the State by the individual responsible for providing such support. Such obligation shall be established by:
(1) Order of a court of competent jurisdiction,
(2) Other legal process as established by State law, such as an administrative hearing process or a legally enforceable and binding agreement;
* * * * 5k *
(b) The amount of the obligation described in paragraph (a) of this section shall be:
(1) The amount specified in the order of a court of competent jurisdiction which covers the assigned support rights; or
(2) If there is no court order, an amount determined by the IV-D agency as part of the legal process referred to in paragraph (a)(2) of this section in accordance with a formula which [228]*228meets the criteria prescribed in § 302.53.

45 C.F.R. § 302.50 (1989).

Missouri’s state plan for child support enforcement, as originally enacted in response to the federal mandate, provided that where no court order addressed the duty to provide support, that the State would administratively establish support arrearages to be referred to as the “state debt.” The original Missouri statute did not require the use of a formula for calculation of arrearages, but stated that “state debt” would be equal to the amount of public assistance paid out. As originally enacted in 1982, § 454.465 provided:

[Pjayment of public assistance by the division ... creates an obligation, to be called “state debt,” which is due and owing to the division ... in an amount equal to the amount of public assistance so paid.

The Missouri statute was amended in 1984 after initiation of a suit challenging the constitutionality of the statute based on failure to use the federally mandated formula.

The current Missouri statute has language similar to the federal statute, except that under the state statute the obligation, or “state debt,” is not determined by a formula, but is set by the Director of the DCSE:

(1) Where there exists a court order directed to a parent which covers that parent’s support obligation to a dependent during a period in which the Division of Family Services provided public assistance to or for the benefit of that dependent, the state debt of the parent shall be an amount equal to the obligation ordered by the court including arrearages and unpaid medical expenses, up to the full amount of public assistance paid, or
(2) Where no court order covers a parent’s support obligation to a dependent during a period in which the Division of Family Services provided public assistance to or for the benefit of the dependent, the state debt may be set or reset by the director [of the Division of Child Support Enforcement or his designee] in an amount not to exceed the amount of public assistance so provided by the Division of Family Services.

Mo.Rev.Stat. §§ 454.465.1(2) & 454.460(4) (Supp.1990).

B. Facts of the Case

Plaintiff Glenda Jackson is the mother of three children. Ms. Jackson was divorced from the father of her children on April 13, 1983. The father was awarded custody of the three minor children. Ms. Jackson was unemployed at that time, and neither she nor the father were ordered to pay child support.

Ms. Jackson subsequently filed a motion to modify the custody order by awarding to her the custody of the children along with child support payments. Ms. Jackson was granted leave of court to file her motion as a “poor person” without payment of a filing fee.

The circuit court on September 9, 1983 denied Ms. Jackson’s motion subject to modifications and conditions provided in the order. One of the modifications allowed Ms. Jackson weekend visitation with the children. Another modification was a requirement mistakenly entered by the court that Ms. Jackson was to pay the father the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) a month per child for the three children while they were exercising visitation with Ms. Jackson.

The circuit court thereafter on October 4, 1983 entered a nunc pro tunc order stating that the September 9, 1983 order contained a “scrivener’s error.” The October 4, 1983 order stated that the September 9, 1983 order should have required the father to pay the mother, Ms. Jackson, the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) per month per child for the three children while they were exercising visitation with the mother, Ms. Jackson. The order did not require Ms. Jackson to pay child support.

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Bluebook (online)
132 F.R.D. 226, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18993, 1990 WL 136148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-rapps-mowd-1990.