38-2324. Liability of parent or guardian for assistance provided juvenile, exceptions.
38-2324
38-2324. Liability of parent or guardian forassistance provided juvenile, exceptions.(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a juvenile'sparent shall be liable torepay to the commissioner of juvenile justice, or any other person or entitywho provides servicespursuant to a court order issued under the code, anyassistance expended on thejuvenile's behalf, regardless of the specific program under which theassistance is or has beenprovided. Such services shall include, but not be limited to, probation,conditional release, aftercare supervision, case management and communitycorrections. When more than one personis legally obligated to support the juvenile, liability to the commissioner orother person or entityshall be joint and several. The commissioner or other person or entity shallhave the power andauthority to file a civil action in the name of the commissioner or otherperson or entity forrepayment of the assistance, regardless of the existence of any other actioninvolving the supportof the juvenile.
(b) With respect to an individual parent, the provisions of subsection(a) shall not apply to:
(1) Assistance provided on behalf of any person other than the juvenileof the parent;
(2) assistance provided during a month in which the needs of the parentwere included in theassistance provided to the juvenile; or
(3) assistance provided during a month in which the parent has fullycomplied with the terms ofan order of support for the juvenile, if a court of competent jurisdiction hasconsidered the issueof support. For the purposes of this subsection, if an order is silent on theissue of support, it shallnot be presumed that the court has considered the issue of support. Amountspaid for a particularmonth pursuant to a judgment under this section shall be credited against theamount accruing forthe same month under any other order of support for the juvenile, up to theamount of the currentsupport obligation for that month.
(c) When the assistance provided during a month is on behalf of more thanone person, theamount of assistance provided on behalf of one person for that month shall bedetermined bydividing the total assistance by the number of people on whose behalfassistance was provided.
(d) Actions authorized herein are in addition to and not in substitution forany other remedies.
History: L. 2006, ch. 169, § 24; Jan. 1, 2007.