Senate Bill 3038

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-19-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ESTABLISH A FAMILY SUPPORT REGISTRY FUND CONSISTING OF UNDELIVERABLE CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS AND FEES TO BE USED FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE CHILD SUPPORT UNIT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 43-19-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-19-55. (1) The State Department of Human Services shall be authorized in maintaining separate accounts with Mississippi banks to handle funds received as incentives from the federal government earned as a result of collecting support and also any funds maintained on deposit as a result of federal and state income tax offsets and any other relevant account, and to aggressively manage the float in these accounts so as to accrue maximum interest advantage of the funds in the account, and to retain all earned interest on these funds to be applied to defray the expenses of the Child Support Unit.

(2) There is hereby created in the State Treasury a fund to be known as the Family Support Registry Fund, which shall consist of any monies credited thereto from the investment earnings on monies deposited with the State Treasury, monies accruing from collections for child support received by the Family Support Registry, any undeliverable child support payments, and any fees collected pursuant to Section 43-19-37. Monies in the Family Support Registry Fund shall be appropriated to the State Department of Human Services to reimburse the Family Support Registry for unfunded payments by obligors or for other incidental expenditures associated with the operation of the Child Support Unit. At the end of any fiscal year, all unexpended and unencumbered monies in the Family Support Registry Fund shall remain in the fund and shall not be credited or transferred to the General Fund or any other fund of the state; except that any non-IV-D child support payments that are undeliverable after two (2) years shall be considered unclaimed property for purposes of the "Unclaimed Property Act" and shall be reported to the State Treasurer for purposes of locating the payee. Consistent with the requirements for confidentiality of information regarding child support, the Child Support Unit shall specify the amount of money that is unclaimed and provide sufficient identifying information, if available, to allow the administrator to locate the payee.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2004.