North Carolina General Statutes 110-129.1. Additional powers and duties of the Department
(a) In addition to other powers and duties conferred upon the Department of Health and Human Services, Child Support Enforcement Program, by this Chapter or other State law, the Department shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) Upon authorization of the Secretary, to issue a subpoena for the production of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, agreements, or other information, documents, or records relevant to a child support establishment or enforcement proceeding or paternity establishment proceeding. The subpoena shall be signed by the Secretary and shall state the name of the person or entity required to produce the information authorized under this section, and a description of the information compelled to be produced. The subpoena may be served in the manner provided for service of subpoenas under the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. The form of subpoena shall generally follow the practice in the General Court of Justice in North Carolina. Return of the subpoena shall be to the person who issued the subpoena. Upon the refusal of any person to comply with the subpoena, it shall be the duty of any judge of the district court, upon application by the person who issued the subpoena, to order the person subpoenaed to show cause why he should not comply with the requirements, if in the discretion of the judge the requirements are reasonable and proper. Refusal to comply with the subpoena or with the order shall be dealt with as for contempt of court and as otherwise provided by law. Information obtained as a result of a subpoena issued pursuant to this subdivision is confidential and may be used only by the Child Support Enforcement Program in conjunction with a child support establishment or enforcement proceeding or paternity establishment proceeding.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 110-129.1
- Court order: means any judgment or order of the courts of this State or of another state. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- Designated representative: means any person or agency designated by a board of county commissioners or the Department of Health and Human Services to administer a program of child support enforcement for a county or region of the State. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- IV-D case: means a case in which services have been applied for or are being provided by a child support enforcement agency established pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act as amended and this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligor: means the individual who owes a duty to make child support payments or payments of alimony or postseparation support under a court order. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- Offset: means withholding by the IRS or FMS of all or part of an income tax refund or certain federal payments due an obligor and remitting payments to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement for transmittal to the State. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- Program: means the Child Support Enforcement Program established and administered pursuant to the provisions of this Article and Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. See North Carolina General Statutes 110-129
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(2) For the purposes of locating persons, establishing paternity, or enforcing child support orders, the Program shall have access to any information or data storage and retrieval system maintained and used by the Department of Transportation for drivers license issuance or motor vehicle registration, or by a law enforcement agency in this State for law enforcement purposes, as permitted pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1.4, except that the Program shall have access to information available to the law enforcement agency pertaining to drivers licenses and motor vehicle registrations issued in other states.
(3) Establish and implement procedures under which in IV-D cases either parent or, in the case of an assignment of support, the State may request that a child support order enforced under this Chapter be reviewed and, if appropriate, adjusted in accordance with the most recently adopted uniform statewide child support guidelines prescribed by the Conference of Chief District Court Judges.
(4) Develop procedures for entering into agreements with financial institutions to develop and operate a data match system as provided under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-139.2
(5) Develop procedures for ensuring that when a noncustodial parent providing health care coverage pursuant to a court order changes employers and is eligible for health care coverage from the new employer, the new employer, upon receipt of notice of the order from the Department, enrolls the child in the employer’s health care plan.
(6) Develop and implement an administrative process for paternity establishment in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-132.2
(7) Establish and implement administrative procedures to change the child support payee to ensure that child support payments are made to the appropriate caretaker when custody of the child has changed, in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50-13.4(d).
(8) Establish and implement expedited procedures to take the following actions relating to the establishment of paternity or to establishment of support orders, without obtaining an order from a judicial tribunal:
a. Subpoena the parties to undergo genetic testing as provided under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-132.2;
b. Implement income withholding in accordance with this Chapter;
c. For the purpose of securing overdue support, increase the amount of monthly support payments by implementation of income withholding procedures established under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.4, or by notice and opportunity to contest to an obligor who is not subject to income withholding. Increases under this subdivision are subject to the limitations of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-136.6;
d. For purposes of exerting and retaining jurisdiction in IV-D cases, transfer cases between jurisdictions in this State without the necessity for additional filing by the petitioner or service of process upon the respondent.
(9) Implement and maintain performance standards for each of the State and county child support enforcement offices across the State. The performance standards shall include the following:
a. Cost per collections.
b. Consumer satisfaction.
c. Paternity establishments.
d. Administrative costs.
e. Orders established.
f. Collections on arrearages.
g. Location of absent parents.
h. Other related performance measures.
The Department shall monitor the performance of each office and shall implement a system of reporting that allows each local office to review its performance as well as the performance of other local offices. The Department shall publish an annual performance report that includes the statewide and local office performance of each child support office.
(10) Certify obligors to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement for the Passport Denial Program under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-143
(11) Certify to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement determinations that an obligor in a IV-D case owes support arrears in an amount equal to or greater than the federally mandated thresholds for offset of federal income tax refunds under 42 U.S.C. § 664(b)(2) if the arrears are assigned to the State and 45 C.F.R. § 303.72(a)(2) if the arrears are not assigned to the State.
(12) Certify obligors to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement for the Administrative Offset Program under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-144
(b) As used in this section, the term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary’s designee, or a designated representative as defined under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 110-129(5). (1997-433, s. 2; 1997-443, s. 11A.122; 1998-17, s. 1; 2009-451, s. 10.46; 2023-65, s. 7.3(b).)