Senate Bill No. 144
(By Senators Wiedebusch and Grubb)
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[Introduced January 23, 1995; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article five, chapter forty-eight-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a
new section, designated section ten, relating
generally to the enforcement of family obligations;
and the suspension of operator's or commercial
driver's license when the holder is delinquent in
court-ordered support payments.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article five, chapter forty-eight-a of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated section ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. REMEDIES FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS
AND VISITATION.
§48A-5-10. Child and spousal support arrearages, denial or
suspension of license or certificate.
(a) The director of the child advocate office shall enter
into agreements with the commissioner of the division of motor
vehicles to effectuate the provisions of this section.
(b) Applicants. -- Upon notification by the director of the
child advocate office that an applicant for an operator's license
or commercial driver's license is one thousand dollars or thirty
days delinquent in the payment of child or spousal support,
whichever occurs first, the commissioner of the division of motor
vehicles shall, within ten days from receipt of the notification,
provide notice of the denial of the license to the applicant.
Within thirty days of receipt of the notification of the denial
the applicant may file a petition contesting the denial. A
denial based on the provisions of this section shall be contested
only for financial hardship or mistake of fact. The applicant
must serve one copy of the petition and the notice of hearing, if
any, to the children's advocate and the commissioner. The
applicant's petition must be filed in the county where the
support order was entered, and must be heard by the family law master.
(c) Holders. -- Upon notification by the director of the
child advocate office that a holder of an operator's license or
commercial driver's license is one thousand dollars or thirty
days delinquent in the payment of child or spousal support,
whichever occurs first, the commissioner shall, within ten days
from receipt of the notification, provide notice of suspension of
license to the holder. Within thirty days of the receipt of
notification of suspension, the holder may file a petition
contesting the suspension. A suspension based on the provisions
of this section shall be contested only for financial hardship or
mistake of fact. The holder must serve one copy of the petition
and the notice of hearing, if any, to the children's advocate and
the commissioner. The holder's petition must be filed in the
county where the support order was entered, and must be heard by
the family law master. The suspension of an operator's license
or commercial driver's license under the provisions of this
section precludes the renewal of that license during the period
of suspension.
(d) For purposes of this section: (1) A financial hardship
exists only when the obligor lacked reasonable opportunity to pay due to a physical handicap that interfered with the obligor's
ability to earn income; and (2) a mistake of fact exists only
when there is an error in the amount of support arrearages.
(e) The denial of application or suspension of an operator's
license or commercial driver's license may be lifted only upon
the payment in full of all support arrearages owed or upon the
demonstration of a financial hardship or mistake of fact
sufficient to eliminate all claimed support arrearages.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the denial
or suspension of an operator's license or commercial driver's
license to persons delinquent in their court ordered child or
spousal support payments.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.