Senate Bill No. 150
(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 denial or suspension of professional
licenses or certificates 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 various professional
licensing and certification boards to effectuate the
provisions of this section.
(b) Applicants. -- Upon notification by the director
of the child advocate office that an applicant for a
professional license or certificate is one thousand
dollars or thirty days delinquent in the payment of child
or spousal support, whichever occurs first, the licensing
authority shall, within ten days from receipt of the
notification, provide notice of the denial of the license
or certificate 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 licensing authority. 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 a professional
license or certificate is one thousand dollars or thirty
days delinquent in the payment of child or spousal
support, whichever occurs first, the licensing authority shall, within ten days from receipt of the notification,
provide notice of suspension of license or certificate 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
licensing authority. 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 a professional license or certificate under the
provisions of this section precludes the renewal of that
license or certificate 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 a
professional license or certificate 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 a professional license or
certificate to persons delinquent in their court ordered
child or spousal support payments.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.