State ex rel. Burton v. Lawton

136 S.W.3d 905, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 956, 2004 WL 1440162
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 29, 2004
DocketNo. WD 63056
StatusPublished

This text of 136 S.W.3d 905 (State ex rel. Burton v. Lawton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Burton v. Lawton, 136 S.W.3d 905, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 956, 2004 WL 1440162 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

JOSEPH M. ELLIS, Chief Judge.

Bobby J. Lawton (“Lawton”) appeals a final judgment of the Circuit Court of Buchanan County affirming the decision of [906]*906the State of Missouri, Department of Social Services, Division of Child Support Enforcement (“the Division”), to authorize the Missouri Department of Revenue (“DOR”) to intercept, pursuant to §§ 143.781-143.788,1 a series of state income tax refunds otherwise due Lawton totaling $384.53, in order to satisfy what the Division had determined to be the sum of $528.00 in past-due child support obligations owed by him. After reviewing the record and the law, we reverse and remand to the circuit court for its entry of a final judgment in favor of Lawton.

Standard of Review

We review the decision of the Division, not the judgment of the circuit court. Taranto v. State of Mo., Dep’t of Soc. Servs., Div. of Child Support Enforcement, 962 S.W.2d 897, 899 (Mo.App. W.D.1998); Cole v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., Div. of Child Support Enforcement, 896 S.W.2d 71, 73 (Mo.App. S.D.1995). Section 454.475.5 states that this review is to be had “pursuant to sections 536.100 to 536.140,” and § 143.785.4 provides that “[ajppeals from actions taken at the hearing allowed under this section shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo.” Under Chapter 536, the scope of our review extends to a determination of whether the Division’s action: (1) was in violation of constitutional provisions; (2) was in excess of its statutory authority or jurisdiction; (3) was unsupported by competent and substantial evidence upon the whole record; (4) was, for any reason, unauthorized by law; (5) was made upon unlawful procedure or without a fair trial; (6) was arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable; or (7) involved an abuse of discretion. § 536.140.2; see also Taranto, 962 S.W.2d at 899; Cole, 896 S.W.2d at 73. Where, as here, the action being reviewed does not involve the exercise by the Division of administrative discretion, but instead involves only the application by the Division of the law to the facts, the reviewing court “may weigh the evidence for itself and determine the facts accordingly.” § 536.14-0.3; Taranto, 962 S.W.2d at 899-900. Moreover, to the extent the Division’s decision is “based upon an interpretation, application, or conclusion of law, it is subject to this Court’s independent judgment.” Cmty. Bancshares, Inc. v. Sec’y of State, 43 S.W.3d 821, 823 (Mo. banc 2001). In other words, the decision of the Division “on a question of law does not preclude, restrict or control review of the issue by the Court.” Kansas City v. Mo. Comm’n on Human Rights, 632 S.W.2d 488, 490 (Mo. banc 1982).

Facts and Procedural History

The facts of this case are more than a little confusing. On September 25, 1997, the Circuit Court of Buchanan County entered a judgment declaring Lawton to be the natural father of a minor, Chasity Marie Reital, who was born on December 20, 1986. Lawton was ordered to pay child support of $326.00 per month to Chasity’s physical custodian, Linda G. Burton (“Burton,” formerly Linda G. Mastín), “retroactive to February 28, 1997.” The judgment further stated that the payments were to be made “on the twenty-eighth day of each month until further order of the Court or until [Chasity] is emancipated.” On April 16, 2001, the circuit court’s September 25, 1997 judgment was modified to increase Lawton’s child support payments to $528.00 per month. The modified judgment further stated that the newly-increased “[p]ayments are due on the 1st day of each month, beginning on 02-28-2001.”

The Division subsequently determined that as of the morning of September 10, [907]*9072002, Lawton owed a total of $528.00 in past-due child support. Later that day, the Division authorized DOR to intercept the entirety ($50.96) of Lawton’s state income tax refund for the 2000 tax year. The intercept notice sent to Lawton, which was dated September 11, 2002, stated that Lawton’s “claimed debt” for Buchanan County “Court Ordered Child Support” at that time was not $528.00, but the sum of $389.54.2 On September 17, 2002, the Division authorized DOR to intercept, in their entirety, two of Lawton’s other state income tax refunds: $266.00 for the 2001 tax year, and $67.57 for the 1999 tax year. However, despite the State Treasurer’s receipt of the $50.96 tax intercept a week earlier, the intercept notice sent to Lawton as to the $266.00 tax intercept, which was dated September 18, 2002, stated that Lawton’s “claimed debt” for Buchanan County “Court Ordered Child Support” was still $389.54.3 The intercept notice sent to Lawton as to the $67.57 tax intercept, which was also dated September 18, 2002, stated that Lawton’s “claimed debt” for Buchanan County “Court Ordered Child Support” was down to $123.54.4

As authorized by 454.475.1 and 143.785.1, Lawton challenged the validity of these tax intercepts by requesting a contested administrative hearing, during which he was represented by counsel. An administrative hearing officer conducted the hearing on December 4, 2002, during which both Lawton and one of Divisions child support enforcement investigators, Melissa Tracy (“Tracy”), testified. On January 17, 2003, the hearing officer issued findings of fact and conclusions of law upholding the Divisions decision to authorize DOR to conduct the tax intercepts, which took place on September 10 and September 17, 2002. As authorized by 454.475.5 and 143.785.4, Lawton then timely sought judicial review of the Divisions decision5 in the Circuit Court of Buchanan County, which, on July 1, 2003, entered a judgment sustaining the Division’s decision. This appeal, which was authorized under 143.785.4 and 536.140.6, followed.

Analysis

Reduced to its essence, in his sole point on appeal, Lawton argues that since the [908]*908Division failed to prove that he owed any past-due child support on either September 10, 2002 or September 17, 2002, the tax intercepts conducted by DOR on those dates were unlawful and the circuit court’s judgment sustaining the Divisions decision to authorize them must be reversed.6 We agree.

At the hearing, Tracy testified that as of the morning of September 10, 2002, Law-ton owed a child support arrearage of $528.00. Tracy explained that she arrived at this figure by taking the amount of child support the pertinent records showed to have been payable by Lawton during the period from February 28, 1997 to September 10, 2002, which was $25,680.00, and subtracting from that figure the amount of child support the records showed to have been paid by him during the same period, which was $25,152.00. This left what the records showed to be an arrearage of $528.00 as of September 10, 2002.

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Related

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43 S.W.3d 821 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2001)
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47 S.W.3d 346 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2001)
Kansas City v. Missouri Commission on Human Rights
632 S.W.2d 488 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1982)
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131 S.W.3d 831 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2004)
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Laffey v. Laffey
72 S.W.3d 143 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
136 S.W.3d 905, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 956, 2004 WL 1440162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-burton-v-lawton-moctapp-2004.