1. a. The director may request from state, county, and local agencies information and assistance deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. State, county, and local agencies, officers, and employees shall cooperate with the unit and shall on request supply the department with available information relative to the absent parent, the custodial parent, and any other necessary party, notwithstanding any provisions of law making this information confidential. The cooperation and information required by this subsection shall also be provided when it is requested by a child support agency. Information required by this subsection includes, but is not limited to, information relative to location, income, property holdings, records of licenses as defined in section 252J.1, and records concerning the ownership and control of corporations, partnerships, and other business entities. If the information is maintained in an automated database, the unit shall be provided automated access.
b. Parents of a child on whose behalf support enforcement services are provided shall provide information regarding income, resources, financial circumstances, and property holdings to the department for the purpose of establishment, modification, or enforcement of a support obligation. The department may provide the information to parents of a child as needed to implement the requirements of section 598.21, subsection 4, notwithstanding any provisions of law making this information confidential.
c. Notwithstanding any provisions of law making this information confidential, all persons, including for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental employers, shall, on request, promptly supply the unit or a child support agency information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual employed by such person as an employee or contractor with relation to whom the unit or a child support agency is providing services.
d. Notwithstanding any provisions of law making this information confidential, the unit may subpoena or a child support agency may use the administrative subpoena form promulgated by the secretary of the United States department of health and human services under 42 U.S.C. § 652(a)(11)(C), to obtain any of the following:
(1) Books, papers, records, or information regarding any financial or other information relating to a paternity or support proceeding.
(2) Certain records held by public utilities and cable television companies with respect to individuals who owe or are owed support, or against or with respect to whom a support obligation is sought, consisting of the names and addresses of such individuals and the names and addresses of the employers of such individuals, as appearing in customer records. If the records are maintained in automated databases, the unit shall be provided with automated access.
e. The unit or a child support agency may subpoena information for one or more individuals.
f. If the unit or a child support agency issues a request under paragraph "c", or a subpoena under paragraph "d", all of the following shall apply:
(1) The unit or child support agency may issue a request or subpoena to a person by sending it by regular mail. Proof of service may be completed according to R.C.P. 82.
(2) A person who is not a parent or putative father in a paternity or support proceeding, who is issued a request or subpoena, shall be provided an opportunity to refuse to comply for good cause by filing a request for a conference with the unit or child support agency in the manner and within the time specified in rules adopted pursuant to subparagraph (7).
(3) Good cause shall be limited to mistake in the identity of the person, or prohibition under federal law to release such information.
(4) After the conference the unit shall issue a notice finding that the person has good cause for refusing to comply, or a notice finding that the person does not have good cause for failing to comply. If the person refuses to comply after issuance of notice finding lack of good cause, or refuses to comply and does not request a conference, the person is subject to a penalty of one hundred dollars per refusal.
(5) If the person fails to comply with the request or subpoena, fails to request a conference, and fails to pay a fine imposed under subparagraph (4), the unit may petition the district court to compel the person to comply with this paragraph. If the person objects to imposition of the fine, the person may seek judicial review by the district court.
(6) If a parent or putative father fails to comply with a subpoena or request for information, the provisions of chapter 252J shall apply.
(7) The unit may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement this section.
g. Notwithstanding any provisions of law making this information confidential, the unit or a child support agency shall have access to records and information held by financial institutions with respect to individuals who owe or are owed support, or with respect to whom a support obligation is sought including information on assets and liabilities. If the records are maintained in automated databases, the unit shall be provided with automated access. For the purposes of this section, "financial institution" means financial institution as defined in section 252I.1.
h. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the unit and a child support agency shall have access to any data maintained by the state of Iowa which contains information that would aid the agency in locating individuals. Such information shall include, but is not limited to, driver's license, motor vehicle, and criminal justice information. However, the information does not include criminal investigative reports or intelligence files maintained by law enforcement. The unit and child support agency shall use or disclose the information obtained pursuant to this paragraph only in accordance with subsection 3. Criminal history records maintained by the department of public safety shall be disclosed in accordance with chapter 692.
i. Liability shall not arise under this subsection with respect to any disclosure by a person as required by this subsection, and no advance notice from the unit or a child support agency is required prior to requesting information or assistance or issuing a subpoena under this subsection.
2. Notwithstanding other statutory provisions to the contrary, including but not limited to chapters 22 and 217, as the chapters relate to confidentiality of records maintained by the department, the payment records of the collection services center maintained under section 252B.13A are public records only as follows:
a. Payment records of the collection services center which are maintained pursuant to chapter 598 are public records and may be released upon request.
b. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 1, the department shall not release details related to payment records or provide alternative formats for release of the information, with the following additional exceptions:
(1) The unit or collection services center may provide additional detail or present the information in an alternative format to an individual or to the individual's legal repreentative if the individual owes or is owed a support obliga- tion, to an agency assigned the obligation as the result of receipt by a party of public assistance, to an agency charged with enforcing child support pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, or to the court.
(2) For support orders entered in Iowa which are being enforced by the unit, the unit may compile and make available for publication a listing of cases in which no payment has been credited to an accrued or accruing support obligation during a previous three-month period. Each case on the list shall be identified only by the name of the support obligor, the address, if known, of the support obligor, unless the information pertaining to the address of the support obligor is protected through confidentiality requirements established by law and has not otherwise been verified with the unit, the support obligor's court order docket or case number, the county in which the obligor's support order is filed, the collection services center case numbers, and the range within which the balance of the support obligor's delinquency is established. The department shall determine dates for the release of information, the specific format of the information released, and the three-month period used as a basis for identifying cases. The department may not release the information more than twice annually. In compiling the listing of cases, no prior public notice to the obligor is required, but the unit may send notice annually by mail to the current known address of any individual owing a support obligation which is being enforced by the unit. The notice shall inform the individual of the provisions of this subparagraph. Actions taken pursuant to this subparagraph are not subject to review under chapter 17A, and the lack of receipt of a notice does not prevent the unit from proceeding in implementing this subparagraph.
(3) The provisions of subparagraph (2) may be applied to support obligations entered in another state, at the request of a child support agency if the child support agency has demonstrated that the provisions of subparagraph (2) are not in conflict with the laws of the state where the support obligation is entered and the unit is enforcing the support obligation.
(4) Records relating to the administration, collection, and enforcement of surcharges pursuant to section 252B.23 which are recorded by the unit or a collection entity shall be confidential records except that information, as necessary for support collection and enforcement, may be provided to other governmental agencies, the obligor or the resident parent, or a collection entity under contract with the unit unless otherwise prohibited by the federal law. A collection entity under contract with the unit shall use information obtained for the sole purpose of fulfilling the duties required under the contract, and shall disclose any records obtained by the collection entity to the unit for use in support establishment and enforcement.
3. Notwithstanding other statutory provisions to the contrary, including but not limited to chapters 22 and 217, as the chapters relate to the confidentiality of records maintained by the department, information recorded by the department pursuant to this section or obtained by the unit is confidential and, except when prohibited by federal law or regulation, may be used or disclosed as provided in subsection 1, paragraphs "b" and "h", and subsection 2, and as follows:
a. The attorney general may utilize the information to secure, modify, or enforce a support obligation of an individual.
b. This subsection shall not permit or require the release of information, except to the extent provided in this section.
c. The unit may release or disclose information as necessary to provide services under section 252B.5, as provided by Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, or as required by federal law.
d. After contact with the nonrequesting party, information on the location of a party may be released to a party unless the unit has or obtains knowledge of a protective order against the requesting party with respect to a nonrequesting party, or unless the unit has or obtains reasonable evidence of domestic violence or child abuse or reason to believe that the release of the information may result in physical or emotional harm to a nonrequesting party or a child, and if one of the following conditions is met:
(1) Release of the information is required by federal law or regulation.
(2) Release of the information is required by chapter 252K.
(3) The requesting party demonstrates a need for that information to notify a nonrequesting party of a proceeding relating to a child who is subject to a paternity or support order being enforced by the unit for a child of the parties.
e. Information may be released if directly connected with any of the following:
(1) The administration of the plan or program approved under Title I, IV-A, IV-B, IV-D, IV-E, X, XIV, XVI, XIX, or XX, or the supplemental security income program established under Title XVI, of the federal Social Security Act, as amended.
(2) Any investigations, prosecutions, or criminal or civil proceeding conducted in connection with the administration of any such plan or program.
(3) The administration of any other federal or federally assisted program which provides assistance in cash or in kind or provides services, directly to individuals on the basis of need.
(4) Reporting to an appropriate agency or official, information on known or suspected instances of physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or exploitation, or negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child who is the subject of a child support enforcement action under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is threatened.
f. Information may be released to courts having jurisdiction in support or abandonment proceedings.
g. The child support recovery unit shall release information relating to an absent parent to another unit of the department pursuant to a written request for the information approved by the director or the director's designee.
h. For purposes of this subsection, "party" means an absent parent, obligor, resident parent, or other necessary party.
[C77, 79, 81, § 252B.9]
89 Acts, ch 283, §31; 90 Acts, ch 1034, § 1; 91 Acts, ch 177, §1; 93 Acts, ch 79, §31, 32, 57; 94 Acts, ch 1171, §16; 97 Acts, ch 175, § 39, 242
Referred to in § 252B.5, 252B.7A, 252B.10, 252H.6, 421.17, 422.20, 422.72, 514H.7, 598.22B, 598.26
© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
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