Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 006 - Department of Finance and Administration
Division 25 - Office of Child Support Enforcement
Rule 006.25.95-003 - Investigator Responsibilities - License Suspension

If either Condition 1 or Condition 2 noted above exists and none of the five (5) Exceptions apply, a Notice of Intent to Suspend License (OCSE-1695, the "90 day Notice") will be mailed to the NCP by the responsible field office. Notices should be sent certified mail to the most current address provided on . the printout as provided by the licensing authorities or to the address provided to the court by the NCP, unless a verified address has been obtained. In the event a Notice sent by certified mail is rejected or unclaimed, a subsequent mailing of the Notice by regular first class mail shall be considered sufficient. The Notice will specifically identify all known specified licenses and permanent license plates held by the noncustodial parent to be suspended in 90 days, and it will inform the noncustodial parent of the opportunity to request an Administrative Hearing within 60 days following receipt of the 90 day Notice.

Following issuance of the 90-day notice (OCSE-1695), a NCP may avoid license suspension by contacting the local IV-D office and entering into an Agreed Order or written installment agreement with OCSE as described in Exception 4 of Section 4805. Agreed Orders and written installment agreements made after issuance of a 90-day notice should include a condition which requires that some payment be made by the NCP before expiration of the 90-day time frame following issuance of the OCSE-1695. In the event the NCP-contests the accuracy of the arrearage information or the duration of the delinquency, an appointment must be scheduled with the local IV-D office to resolve the issue. The local IV-D office will promptly attempt to resolve the complaint. Issues that can not be resolved by the local IV-D office should be forwarded to Central Office for an Administrative Hearing if the NCP requests.

An Administrative Hearing can not clear an outstanding failure to appear, body attachment, or bench warrant. These issues must be dealt with by the court. The NCP should be advised that legal action would be required for a determination on any of these issues. So long as the outstanding failure to appear, body attachment, or bench warrant remains, adverse action for license suspension must proceed under this policy.

Referral packets for administrative hearings must contain copies of the following:

* 90-day Notice (OCSE-1695)

* Noncustodial Party's request for a hearing

* Hearing statement completed by local office

* Copies of all child support orders

* Arrears summary

* Copies of any relevant correspondence between the NCP (or representative) and the Office of Child Support Enforcement.

The packet should be routed to the Central Office, Attention: Appeals and Hearings. The Appeals and Hearings Section will notify the NCP and the responsible local IV-D office of the date, time and location of the hearing. Also, the hearing scheduling notice shall recite that the NCP's failure to appear for the scheduled hearing will be considered a choice to waive the administrative hearing. The Appeals and Hearings Section will also confirm for the initiating local IV-D office that the hearing packet has been received and whether any additional information or documents are needed.

Administrative hearings on license suspension will be conducted in accordance with Section 7000, Rules of Order for Administrative Hearings, with the exception that 60 days are allowed to request an administrative hearing following receipt of the 90 day notice. Administrative hearings on license suspension are limited to a determination whether either of the two (2) Conditions under Section 4805 are present and whether any of the five (5) Exceptions are satisfied.

NCP's not satisfied with an agency administrative hearing decision have the right of appeal to a court of appropriate jurisdiction. Within thirty (30) days (60 days in the event of CDL suspension) from the effective date of the suspension, the noncustodial parent may appeal the suspension action by filing a petition in the chancery court or the juvenile division thereof as appropriate of the county wherein the child support order was entered. The petition is filed by the noncustodial parent with the appropriate Chancery Clerk and must be accompanied with a copy of the Notice of Suspension attached, or a copy of the final administrative hearing decision. The noncustodial parent is responsible for causing the Chancery Court Clerk to issue a summons and service of these documents on the OCSE Administrator. The case shall be tried de novo, but a certified copy of the complete administrative hearing record and transcript when available will be submitted to the Court by OCSE within 30 days from the date of service on the agency or within such further time as the Court may allow, but not exceeding an aggregate of 90 days.

Chancery and Juvenile Judges are vested with jurisdiction to determine whether the petitioner is entitled to license reinstatement or whether the decision of the hearing officer should be affirmed, modified, or reversed.

For persons paying child support pursuant to Ark. Ann. § 9-17-501 or § 9-17-502, the foreign order shall be registered by OCSE pursuant to § 9-17-601 et seq.

Central Office staff will have access to Driver Control files and will be responsible for keying any suspensions or reinstatements of driver's and commercial drivers licenses. All suspensions and reinstatements must be submitted in writing to Central Office, Attention: Appeals and Hearings Section. To ensure that the NCP is allowed 90 days from the receipt by mail of the Notice of Intent to Suspend License (OCSE-1695), a copy of this Notice must be retained in the case file with the signed certified mail receipt attached, whenever available. NCP's who pay their arrearage below an amount equal to six (6) months obligation must have their license reinstated. Following license suspension, a noncustodial parent may obtain license reinstatement by entering into an agreed order or written installment agreement with OCSE as described in Section 4805, Exception #4. The Agreed Order or written installment agreement should contain a provision requiring a lump sum payment in addition to requiring the periodic payment of current support and regular periodic payments on the arrearage/delinquency. It is imperative that the Central Office be notified to immediately take necessary actions to restore the license or permanent license plate of the noncustodial parent when the condition warranting suspension has been removed - However, if the license has otherwise expired, the NCP should be advised to contact the appropriate licensing authority to obtain a new license.

In some instances, NCP's may initiate action on their own accord resulting in a court order eliminating the presence of Condition 1 or 2 listed in section 4805. If the NCP takes such action eliminating the threshold condition for license suspension prior to the effective date of the intended suspension, the responsible field office must immediately notify the Appeals and Hearings Office to take action to set aside suspension activity* on the case and to notify the NCP accordingly.

In the event of fraud or mistake, resulting in a wrongful suspension, OCSE shall immediately notify the licensing authority involved to restore the license or permanent license plate of the noncustodial parent as appropriate.