2022 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 56. Poor Persons
§56-240.2. Initiation of enforcement proceedings by Division.

A. After receiving a referral or application for services, the Division may initiate enforcement proceedings.

1. The Division may notify the obligor of the intention to initiate enforcement proceedings by a notice. If an income assignment is not in place for collection of support monies, the Division shall immediately execute or issue a withholding order to any payor of income to the obligor. The notice of enforcement proceedings pursuant to this subsection shall be served upon the obligor in the same manner prescribed for the service of summons in a civil action. However, if a notice has been issued pursuant to Section 237A of this title, the notice of enforcement proceedings pursuant to this subsection may be served by regular mail with a certificate of mailing. The notice shall inform the obligor of the following:

• a.the amount of support monies owed, if any,
• b.an assignment for collection of support monies due and owing has commenced if a potential payor of income was known,
• c.other enforcement actions that the Division may take to collect support monies owed,
• d.the obligor may contest the allegations in the notice only with regard to mistakes of identity or the existence or the amount of support monies owed,
• e.the assignment shall remain as long as the order upon which it is based is in effect. Payment of any support monies will not prevent an income assignment from taking effect, and
• f.the obligor shall be required to keep the Division informed of the name and address of the current employer of the obligor and access to health insurance and other insurance policy information of the obligor.

2.a.An obligor may request a hearing pursuant to this section by delivering written notice to the District Office on a form provided which states the date and location of the hearing if requested on or before the fifteenth day from the date of service of the notice. On receipt of the hearing request, the Division shall promptly enter the appearance of the obligor on the administrative court hearing docket. The administrative court shall hear and determine the matter and, unless the obligor successfully shows there is a mistake of identity or a mistake in the existence of current or delinquent child support, the administrative court shall enter a judgment, determine the amount of judgment payments, if any, and order the assignment of nonexempt earnings of the obligor pay the judgment and future monthly support payments.

• b.The administrative court may order an obligor to pay all costs involved in enforcement proceedings under this subsection and shall order interest as provided in Section 114 of Title 43 of the Oklahoma Statutes to be collected in the same manner as the payments upon which the interest accrued.
• c.The order shall be a final judgment for purposes of appeal.
• d.The Division shall send a notice of the income assignment to the payor to effectuate the assignment pursuant to subsection D of this section.

B. If within fifteen (15) days of date of service of the notice, the obligor fails to request a hearing, pursuant to subsection A of this section, or after having requested a hearing fails to appear at the hearing, the administrative court shall enter an order granting judgment for arrearage, if any, establishing a judgment payment plan and approving the income assignment. The administrative order shall thereafter be subject to collection action and shall be filed, at the option of the Division, in the office of the court clerk in the county of residence of the custodian of the child, in the county of residence of the obligor, in the county of the underlying support order, or any other county in which the obligor has real or personal property. The administrative order shall be enforced by the district court in the same manner as an order of the district court. A copy of the order shall be served upon the obligor by the District Office in accordance with subsection B of Section 2005 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

C. The Division shall send a notice of the income assignment to the payor pursuant to subsection D of this section to effectuate the assignment.

D. 1. The notice of the income assignment required pursuant to subsections A and B of this section shall be sent by the Division to the payor on a form prescribed by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The notice shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or served in accordance with law. The payor shall be required to comply with the provisions of this subsection and the provisions stated in the notice.

2. The assignment shall take effect on the next payment of income to the obligor after the payor receives notice thereof and the amount withheld shall be sent to the Division within seven (7) days of the date upon which the obligor is paid. The payor shall attach to each payment a statement reporting the date on which the support obligation of the obligor was withheld.

3. The payor shall withhold each pay period the amounts specified in the notice from the obligor’s income and earnings. The amount withheld by the payor from the obligor's earnings shall not exceed the limits on the percentage of an obligor's earnings which may be assigned for support pursuant to Section 1171.2 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

4. The income assignment is binding upon the payor until released or until further order of the Division or the district or administrative court.

5. The payor is liable for any amount up to the accumulated amount that should have been withheld if the payor fails to withhold in accordance with the provisions of the assignment notice.

6. Two or more income assignments may be levied concurrently. Any current support due shall be paid before the payment of any arrearages or support debt judgment.

7. If the amount of support due under the assignments exceeds the maximum amount authorized to be withheld from earnings by Section 1171.2 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the payor shall pay the amount due up to the statutory limit and shall send written notice to the Division or the person or agency designated to receive payments that the amount due exceeds the amount subject to withholding. If the payor fails to pay or notify as required herein, the payor may be liable for an amount up to the accumulated amount that is due and owing upon receipt of the notice.

8. The payor shall notify the Division within ten (10) days of the date when the obligor is no longer employed by, being paid by, or providing services to the payor, and shall provide the Division with the obligor's last-known address and the name of the obligor's new employer or payor of income, if known.

9. If the payor has no current or future income due to the obligor in his or her possession or control, or if the obligor is no longer employed by, being paid by, or providing services to the payor prior to the receipt of the notice required pursuant to subsection C of this section, the payor shall send written notice to the Division within ten (10) days of receipt of said notice. Failure to notify the Division within the required time limit may subject the payor to liability for an amount up to the accumulated amount that is due and owing upon receipt of the notice.

10. The payor is liable for any amount up to the accumulated amount that should have been withheld and paid, and may also be fined not more than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each failure to make the required deductions if the payor:

• a.fails to withhold or pay the support in accordance with the provisions of the assignment notice, or
• b.fails to notify the person or agency entitled to support and the Division as required.

11. The Division or the obligor may bring an action against the payor to enforce the provisions of the notice and this subsection in the underlying district court case or by separate proceeding in district court.

12. The payor may combine withheld amounts from income of two or more obligors in a single payment and separately identify that portion of the single payment which is attributable to each individual obligor.

13. An income assignment issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall have priority over any prior or subsequent garnishments of the same income.

14. The payor may deduct from any income of the obligor a sum not exceeding Five Dollars ($5.00) per pay period but not to exceed Ten Dollars ($10.00) per month as reimbursement for costs incurred by the payor in complying with the income assignment.

15. The income assignment shall remain effective regardless of any change of a payor.

16. The income assignment issued pursuant to this section shall remain in effect as long as any support monies are owed. Payment of any support monies shall not prevent the income assignment from taking effect.

17. The payor shall verify the obligor's address, employment, earnings, income, benefits, and dependent health insurance information upon the request of the Division.

18. The payor may not discipline, suspend, discharge, or refuse to promote an obligor because of an income assignment executed pursuant to this section. Any payor who violates this section shall be liable to such obligor for all income, wages, and employment benefits lost by the obligor from the period of unlawful discipline, suspension, discharge, or refusal to promote to the reinstatement or promotion.

E. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Department to use its administrative powers conferred by law or rules to collect delinquent support without the necessity of a court order.

F. Any person obligated to pay support, who has left or is beyond the jurisdiction of the court, may be subjected to or prosecuted under any other proceedings available pursuant to the laws of this state for the enforcement of the duty of support and maintenance.

G. The income assignment proceedings specified in this section shall be available to other states for the enforcement of child support and maintenance or to enforce out-of-state orders. Venue for such proceedings is, at the option of the obligee:

1. In the county in this state in which the support order was entered;

2. In the county in this state in which the obligee resides; or

3. In the county in this state in which the obligor resides or receives income.

H. Any payment made pursuant to the provisions of this section by the payor shall be made payable to the Department or its designee, and shall be in such form of payment as provided by the order or the notice.

I. The obligated party may execute a voluntary income assignment and acknowledgment at any time and submit it to the District Office.

J. The Division shall distribute the monies due a person entitled to support who is not receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families within the time limit required by federal regulation.

Added by Laws 1985, c. 297, § 24, operative Oct. 1, 1985. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 176, § 10, emerg. eff. May 15, 1986; Laws 1990, c. 309, § 18, eff. Sept. 1, 1990; Laws 1994, c. 365, § 7, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Laws 1997, c. 402, § 23, eff. July 1, 1997; Laws 1998, c. 323, § 20, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; Laws 2000, c. 384, § 15, eff. Nov. 1, 2000.