Bill Text: MS HB1398 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Bail; set amount for person incarcerated for overdue child support.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-23 - Died In Committee [HB1398 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2016-HB1398-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Dixon
House Bill 1398
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 11-51-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF AN APPEARANCE BOND FOR CONTEMPT OF FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT; TO AMEND SECTION 93-11-71, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO IS INCARCERATED FOR OVERDUE CHILD SUPPORT SHALL BE ENTITLED TO A RELEASE ON BAIL IN THE AMOUNT OF NO MORE THAN FIVE PERCENT OF THE AMOUNT OF THE TOTAL ARREARAGE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 11-51-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
11-51-12. (1) A person ordered by any tribunal, except the Supreme Court, to be punished for a civil contempt, may appeal to the court to which other cases are appealable from said tribunal. If jail confinement is ordered to compel the payment of any monetary sum, the contemnor shall be allowed to appeal upon the execution of an appearance bond, payable to the appellee, with sufficient sureties, in the penalty of one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of such sum as he has been adjudicated in contempt for failure to pay, or in the penalty of no more than five percent (5%) of the sum adjudicated in contempt for failure to pay child support, unless the court shall determine that a lesser bond should be required. The bond shall be conditioned to abide the results of the appeal.
(2) Where the punishment for civil contempt is other than jail confinement, the contemnor shall be allowed to appeal upon the posting of a bond, payable to the appellee, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the tribunal appealed from, in an amount to be fixed by such tribunal, conditioned to abide the results of the appeal.
(3) All appeals allowed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall operate as a supersedeas.
(4) The burden of proof in civil contempt shall be proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
SECTION 2. Section 93-11-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
93-11-71. (1) Whenever a court orders any person to make periodic payments of a sum certain for the maintenance or support of a child, and whenever such payments as have become due remain unpaid for a period of at least thirty (30) days, a judgment by operation of law shall arise against the obligor in an amount equal to all payments that are then due and owing.
(a) A judgment arising under this section shall have the same effect and be fully enforceable as any other judgment entered in this state. A judicial or administrative action to enforce the judgment may be begun at any time; and
(b) Such judgments arising in other states by operation of law shall be given full faith and credit in this state.
(2) Any judgment arising under the provisions of this section shall operate as a lien upon all the property of the judgment debtor, both real and personal, which lien shall be perfected as to third parties without actual notice thereof only upon enrollment on the judgment roll. The department or attorney representing the party to whom support is owed shall furnish an abstract of the judgment for periodic payments for the maintenance and support of a child, along with sworn documentation of the delinquent child support, to the circuit clerk of the county where the judgment is rendered, and it shall be the duty of the circuit clerk to enroll the judgment on the judgment roll. Liens arising under the provisions of this section may be executed upon and enforced in the same manner and to the same extent as any other judgment.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions in subsection (2) of this section, any judgment arising under the provisions of this section shall subject the following assets to interception or seizure without regard to the entry of the judgment on the judgment roll of the situs district or jurisdiction and such assets shall apply to all child support owed including all arrears:
(a) Periodic or lump-sum payments from a federal, state or local agency, including unemployment compensation, workers' compensation and other benefits;
(b) Winnings from lotteries and gaming winnings that are received in periodic payments made over a period in excess of thirty (30) days;
(c) Assets held in financial institutions;
(d) Settlements and awards resulting from civil actions;
(e) Public and private retirement funds, only to the extent that the obligor is qualified to receive and receives a lump-sum or periodic distribution from the funds; and
(f) Lump-sum payments as defined in Section 93-11-101.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, upon disestablishment of paternity granted pursuant to Section 93-9-10 and a finding of clear and convincing evidence including negative DNA testing that the obligor is not the biological father of the child or children for whom support has been ordered, the court shall disestablish paternity and may forgive any child support arrears of the obligor for the child or children determined by the court not to be the biological child or children of the obligor, if the court makes a written finding that, based on the totality of the circumstances, the forgiveness of the arrears is equitable under the circumstances.
(5) In any case in which a child receives assistance from block grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the obligor owes past-due child support, the obligor, if not incapacitated, may be required by the court to participate in any work programs offered by any state agency.
(6) A parent who receives social security disability insurance payments who is liable for a child support arrearage and whose disability insurance benefits provide for the payment of past due disability insurance benefits for the support of the minor child or children for whom the parent owes a child support arrearage shall receive credit toward the arrearage for the payment or payments for the benefit of the minor child or children if the arrearage accrued after the date of disability onset as determined by the Social Security Administration.
(7) A person who is incarcerated for overdue child support shall be entitled to a release on bail in the amount of no more than five percent (5%) of the amount of the total arrearage.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.
