Senate Bill 2498

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 93-11-111, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DELETE THE AUTOMATIC REPEALER ON THE STATUTE AUTHORIZING AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE ON WITHHOLDING ORDERS FOR CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 93-11-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-11-111. (1) It shall be the duty of any payor who has been served with a copy of the order for withholding and an attached affidavit of accounting, a certified record of payments, or judgment for delinquency to deduct and pay over income as provided in this section. The payor shall deduct the amount designated in the order for withholding beginning with the next payment of income that is payable to the obligor after fourteen (14) days following service of the order and notice. The payor shall pay the amounts withheld to the department within seven (7) days of the date the obligor is paid in accordance with the order for withholding and in accordance with any later notification received redirecting payments. The department shall then forward those amounts to the obligee.

(2) For each intrastate withholding of income, the payor shall be entitled to receive a fee of Two Dollars ($2.00) to be withheld from the income of the obligor in addition to the support payments, regardless of the number of payments the payor makes to the department. However, in all interstate withholding, the rules and laws of the state where the obligor works shall determine the payor's processing fee.

(3) The payor shall, unless otherwise notified by the department, withhold from the income of the obligor and forward to the department each month, an amount specified by the department not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) per month to defray the department's administrative costs incurred in receiving and distributing money withheld under Sections 93-11-101 through 93-11-119. The payor may pay such amount to the department in any manner determined by the payor to be convenient and may include that amount in checks to the department for amounts withheld pursuant to the order for withholding. * * *

(4) Regardless of the amount designated in the order for withholding and regardless of other fees imposed or amounts withheld under this section, the payor shall not deduct from the income of the obligor in excess of the amounts allowed under Section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, being 15 USCS 1673, as amended.

(5) A payor may combine all amounts that he is required to withhold and pay to the department in one (1) payment; however, the payor must send to the department a list showing the amount of the payment attributable to each obligor.

(6) Whenever the obligor is no longer receiving income from the payor, the payor shall return a copy of the order for withholding to the department and shall forward the obligor's last known address and name and address of the obligor's new employer, if known, to the department. The payor shall cooperate in providing further information for the purpose of enforcing Sections 93-11-101 through 93-11-119.

(7) Withholding of income under this section shall be made without regard to any prior or subsequent garnishments, attachments, wage assignments or any other claims of creditors. Payment as required by the order for withholding shall be a complete defense by the payor against any claims of the obligor or his creditors as to the sum so paid.

(8) In cases in which the payor has been served more than one (1) order for withholding for the same obligor, the payor shall honor the orders on a pro rata basis to result in withholding an amount for each order that is in direct proportion to the percentage of the obligor's adjusted gross income that the order represents, and the payor shall honor all those withholdings to the extent that the total amount withheld does not exceed the maximum amount specified in subsection (1) of this section.

(9) No payor shall discharge, discipline, refuse to hire or otherwise penalize any obligor because of the duty to withhold income.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after June 30, 2005.