§ 110-139. Location of absent parents.
§ 110‑139. Location of absent parents.
(a) The Department of Health and Human Services shall attempt tolocate absent parents for the purpose of establishing paternity of and/orsecuring support for dependent children. The Department is to serve as a registryfor the receipt of information which directly relates to the identity orlocation of absent parents, to assist any governmental agency or department inlocating an absent parent, to answer interstate inquiries concerning desertingparents, and to develop guidelines for coordinating activities with anygovernmental department, board, commission, bureau or agency in providinginformation necessary for the location of absent parents.
(b) In order to carry out the responsibilities imposed underthis Article, the Department may request from any governmental department,board, commission, bureau or agency information and assistance. All State,county and city agencies, officers and employees shall cooperate with theDepartment in the location of parents who have abandoned and deserted childrenwith all pertinent information relative to the location, income and property ofsuch parents, notwithstanding any provision of law making such informationconfidential. Except as otherwise stated in this subsection, all nonjudicialrecords maintained by the Department pertaining to child‑supportenforcement shall be confidential, and only duly authorized representatives ofsocial service agencies, public officials with child‑support enforcementand related duties, and members of legislative committees shall have access tothese records. The payment history of an obligor pursuant to a support ordermay be examined by or released to the court, the obligor, or the person onwhose behalf enforcement actions are being taken or that person's designee.Income and expense information of either parent may be released to the otherparent for the purpose of establishing or modifying a support order.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law making suchinformation confidential, an employer doing business in this State orincorporated under the laws of this State shall provide the Department with thefollowing information upon certification by the Department that the informationis needed to locate a parent for the purpose of collecting child support or toenforce an order for child support: full name, social security account number,date of birth, home address, wages, existing or available medical, hospital,and dental insurance coverage, and number of dependents listed for tax purposes.
(c1) Employment verifications. For the purpose of establishing,enforcing, or modifying a child support order, the amount of the obligor'sgross income may be established by a written statement signed by the obligor'semployer or the employer's designee or an Employee Verification form producedby the Automated Collections Tracking System that has been completed and signedby the obligor's employer or the employer's designee. A written statementsigned by the employer of the obligor or the employer's designee that setsforth an obligor's gross income, as well as an Employee Verification formsigned by the obligor's employer or the employer's designee, shall beadmissible evidence in any action establishing, enforcing, or modifying a childsupport order.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law making thisinformation confidential, including Chapter 53B of the General Statutes, anyutility company, cable television company, or financial institution, includingfederal, State, commercial, or savings banks, savings and loan associations andcooperative banks, federal or State chartered credit unions, benefitassociations, insurance companies, safe deposit companies, money market mutualfunds, and investment companies doing business in this State or incorporatedunder the laws of this State shall provide the Department of Health and HumanServices with the following information upon certification by the Departmentthat the information is needed to locate a parent for the purpose of collectingchild support or to establish or enforce an order for child support: full name,social security number, address, telephone number, account numbers, and otheridentifying data for any person who maintains an account at the utilitycompany, cable television company, or financial institution. A utility company,cable television company, or financial institution that discloses informationpursuant to this subsection in good faith reliance upon certification by theDepartment is not liable for damages resulting from the disclosure.
(e) Subsection (d) of this section shall not apply totelecommunication utilities or providers of electronic communication service tothe general public.
(f) There is established the State Child Support Collection andDisbursement Unit. The duties of the Unit shall be the collection anddisbursement of payments under support orders for all cases. The Department mayadminister and operate the Unit or may contract with another State or privateentity for the administration and operation of the Unit. (1975, c. 827, s. 1; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1186, s. 15; 1987, c. 591;1991, c. 419, s. 1; 1995, c. 538, s. 4; 1997‑433, ss. 8.1, 9.1; 1997‑443,s. 11A.118(a); 1998‑17, s. 1; 1999‑293, s. 22; 2000‑140, s.20(b); 2001‑237, ss. 5, 6; 2003‑288, s. 3.1.)