§ 43-5-235 — Reimbursement of local entities for costs of child support collection and paternity determination program.

To the extent permitted by federal law, the department may enter into annual agreements with county governments, clerks of court, sheriffs, and other law enforcement entities having jurisdiction in that county to reimburse and to pay federal financial participation and incentives pursuant to the terms of the agreement to the appropriate contracting entity for a portion of the cost of developing and implementing a child support collection and paternity determination program for: (1) securing support for persons receiving state public assistance and reimbursement of medical assistance from the legally responsible spouse or parent of assistance recipients; (2) establishing paternity of children born out of wedlock who are receiving aid to families with dependent children and to secure support for them; (3) all children who have sought assistance in securing support whether or not they are eligible for aid to families with dependent children and regardless of the economic circumstances. To the extent permitted by federal law, a fiscal incentive and federal financial participation must be paid to the department and provided to the entity providing the service for the collection and enforcement of child support obligations. These monies must be paid to the appropriate county treasurer or county finance office on a monthly basis and deposited into a separate account for the entity providing the service for the exclusive use by this entity for all activities related to the establishment, collection, and enforcement of child support obligations for the fiscal year in which the payments are earned and may be drawn on and used only by the entity providing the service for which the account was established. Monies paid to the contracting entity pursuant to this section may not be used to replace operating funds of the budget of the entity providing the service. Funds in the special account not encumbered for child support activities revert to the general fund of the county at the end of the fiscal year in which they were earned. Each local entity shall enter into a support enforcement agreement with the department as a condition of receiving the fiscal incentive and federal financial participation. To the extent that fiscal incentives are paid to the department and are not owed under the agreement to the contracting entity, these fiscal incentives must be reinvested in the department's Child Support Enforcement Program to increase collections of support at the state and county levels in a manner consistent with the federal laws and regulations governing incentive payments.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 549; 1988 Act No. 657, eff June 7, 1988; 1990 Act No. 478, SECTION 1, eff May 14, 1990; 1991 Act No. 124, SECTION 1, eff May 31, 1991; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, SECTION 27B, eff July 1, 1994; 1997 Act No. 133, SECTION 7, eff June 11, 1997.