Roles & Responsibilities for Enforcing Child Support Court Orders

Child support programs must comply with state and federal laws and regulations. The following government entities are involved with issuing and enforcing court orders for child- and family support, and administering the general child support program.

Local Child Support Agencies

• Locate parents
• Monitor child support cases for compliance with court orders
• Investigate incidences of non-compliance
• Contact parents who fall behind in their payments
• Verify income and employment information and sends income withholding notices to employers
• Determine whether a parent has health insurance coverage available by contacting the employer
• Prepare stipulations (legal agreements) for court approval
• Work with paying parents to develop payment plans to pay past-due support
• Ask the court to make a finding of contempt of court for noncompliance with court orders
• Ask the court to order Children First and/or “work search” activities (Not all counties and tribes have a Children First program.)
• Determine if administrative enforcement actions (e.g., license denial) are appropriate
• Refer parents who are seriously behind in payments to the district attorney for possible criminal nonsupport charges

Local Courts

• Set conditions for payment of child support orders and past-due amounts
• Enter orders for “work search” activities and/or Children First enrollment (Not all counties and tribes have a Children First program)
• Authorize appropriate warrants for arrest and for commitment orders to the local jail
• Determine if a parent is violating a court order and makes a finding of contempt if warranted

State Bureau of Child Support

• Operates the KIDS computer system which tracks compliance with court orders
• Operates the Child Support Lien docket
• Locates parents at the request of other states
• Reports delinquent payers to credit bureaus

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