State Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Parker

246 S.W.3d 851, 368 Ark. 393, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 28
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJanuary 11, 2007
Docket06-415
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 246 S.W.3d 851 (State Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Parker, 246 S.W.3d 851, 368 Ark. 393, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 28 (Ark. 2007).

Opinions

Donald L. Corbin, Justice.

Appellants State of Arkansas Office of Child Support Enforcement and Norma West-brook (collectively known as OCSE) appeal the Pulaski County Circuit Court’s February 28, 2006, final order, setting aside the default judgment of paternity entered against Appellee Anthony L. Parker, finding Parker was not the biological father ofB.P. and that he did not owe arrearages, and abating any future child-support obligation. On appeal, OCSE raises two arguments for reversal: the trial court (1) erred in not granting a judgment for past-due arrearages because Ark. Code Ann. § 9-10-115(f)(l) (Supp. 2005) only provides relief from any future child-support obligation; (2) abused its discretion in entering an order that was not supported by sufficient law and relying on facts that were not raised by any party of record. This case was originally submitted to the court of appeals; however, it was certified to this court in accordance with Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(b)(4) and (5) because it involves a question of substantial public interest and an issue needing clarification or development of the law. Specifically, the court of appeals found that the primary question was whether a man, who has been adjudicated as the biological father of a child but is later determined not to be the father, is relieved of his obligation to pay all past-due child support. We hold that, under section 9-10-115(f)(1), the disestablished father cannot be relieved of past-due child support. Therefore, the trial court erred in granting this relief to Parker, and we reverse and remand.

On April 18, 2002, OCSE filed a paternity complaint, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 9-14-210(d) (Repl. 2002), against Parker to establish paternity for B.P.1 Parker did not answer the complaint and, on June 20, 2002, the trial court entered a default judgment of paternity. In that order, the trial court set child support at $24 per week and granted a retroactive support award of $4,446 to be paid by Parker.

Parker never paid any child support and, on March 7, 2003, OCSE filed a motion for contempt against Parker. He was served with an order and a citation to appear in court on April 24, 2003. Parker did not appear for court. Because of this failure to appear, the trial court issued a pick-up order on May 6, 2003. About a year after the pick-up order was entered, OCSE found an employer of Parker’s and, from June 2004 until February 2005, deducted payments from Parker’s paycheck.

In March 2005, Parker was arrested pursuant to the pick-up order. A hearing was immediately held and Parker orally requested a paternity test. The paternity test was granted and administered at the OCSE office. Following the test, it was determined that Parker was not the biological father of B.P. On September 21, 2005, OCSE filed a motion for judgment in which it stated that Parker was excluded as the biological father through DNA testing and requested that the trial court issue a judgment in regards to past-due child support.

On February 14, 2006, a hearing was held on the motion, for judgment. The following day the trial court issued an order abating the weekly $24 child-support payments, and finding that Parker was not the father of B.P. and that he was not responsible for any past-due child support. On February 24, 2006, OCSE filed its first notice of appeal, stating that the trial court’s order finding that Parker was not responsible for past-due child support was in violation of section 9 — 10—115(f). Four days later, on February 28, 2006, the trial court issued a final order containing factual findings as well as its previous conclusions. In the February 28 order, the trial court explained that:

This Court chooses to not award a judgment against this Defendant or make a finding of arrears in favor of the State as opposed to the custodial mother. To force a man to pay the State for AFDC/TEA payments made to a woman for a child that is not his violates all precepts of common law as to who is responsible for supporting a child.

In response to this final order, OCSE filed a motion to reconsider.2 Then, on March 30, 2006, OCSE filed a second notice of appeal from the February 28 final order holding that Parker was not liable for any arrearages up to the finding of nonpaternity and that section 9-10-115(f) is silent in cases where there has been no acknowledgment of paternity.

OCSE’s first argument for reversal is that the trial court erred in not granting a judgment for past-due arrearages, which had accumulated from the date of the original paternity order until the results of the paternity test were obtained, because section 9-10-115(f)(1) only provides relief from any future child-support obligation. Specifically, OCSE asserts that the trial court’s decision to deny past-due child support up to the date that Parker was determined not to be the father was completely against statutory and case law.

Our standard of review for an appeal from a child-support order is de novo and we will not reverse a finding of fact by the trial court unless it is clearly erroneous. Ward v. Doss, 361 Ark. 153, 205 S.W.3d 767 (2005). In reviewing a trial court’s findings, we give due deference to that court’s superior position to determine the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be accorded to their testimony. Id. However, a trial court’s conclusion of law is given no deference on appeal. Id.

In the present case, we are also being asked to interpret section 9 — 10—115(f) (1). Similar to our review of child-support orders, we review issues of statutory construction de novo as it is for this court to decide what a statute means. Department of Human Servs. & Child Welfare Agency Review Bd. v. Howard, 367 Ark. 55, 238 S.W.3d 1 (2006). While we are not bound by the trial court’s interpretation, in the absence of a showing that the trial court erred, its interpretation will be accepted as correct on appeal. Id. The basic rule of statutory construction is to give effect to the intent of the legislature. Id. Where the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, we determine legislative intent from the ordinary meaning of the language used. Id. In considering the meaning of a statute, we construe it just as it reads, giving the words their ordinary and usually accepted meaning in common language. Id. We construe the statute so that no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant, and we give meaning and effect to every word in the statute, if possible. Id.

Section 9-10-115(f) (1) states:

If the test administered under subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section excludes the adjudicated father or man deemed to be the father pursuant to an acknowledgment of paternity as the biological father of the child and the court so finds, the court shall set aside the previous finding or establishment of paternity and relieve him of any future obligation of support as of the date of the finding.

A plain reading of this statute allows for only one interpretation: an individual who was an adjudicated father or who acknowledged paternity, but was later determined not to be the father, shall have the previous finding or establishment of paternity set aside and he shall be relieved of any future obligation of support. See Littles v.

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Related

Chavis v. Brackenbury
291 S.W.3d 570 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2009)
Wesley v. Hall
289 S.W.3d 143 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2008)
Hardy v. Wilbourne
259 S.W.3d 405 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2007)
State Office of Child Support Enforcement v. Parker
246 S.W.3d 851 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 S.W.3d 851, 368 Ark. 393, 2007 Ark. LEXIS 28, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-office-of-child-support-enforcement-v-parker-ark-2007.