Senate Bill 2118

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 93-11-153, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE THE TERM "TEMPORARY DRIVER'S LICENSE"; TO AMEND SECTION 93-11-157, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ISSUE A TEMPORARY DRIVER'S LICENSE TO ANY PERSON WHOSE GENERAL DRIVER'S LICENSE IS SUSPENDED AS A RESULT OF FAILURE TO PAY CHILD SUPPORT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 93-11-153, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-11-153. As used in Sections 93-11-151 through 93-11-163, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed herein:

(a) "Licensing entity" or "entity" means any entity specified in Title 73, Professions and Vocations, of the Mississippi Code, and includes the Mississippi Department of Public Safety with respect to driver's licenses, the Mississippi * * * ~~State Tax Commission~~ Department of Revenue with respect to licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages and other licenses or registration authorizing a person to engage in a business, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks with respect to hunting and fishing licenses, and any other state agency that issues a license authorizing a person to engage in a business, occupation or profession. For the purposes of this article, the Supreme Court shall be considered to be the licensing entity for attorneys.

(b) "License" means a license, certificate, permit, credential, registration, or any other authorization issued by a licensing entity that allows a person to engage in a business, occupation or profession, to operate a motor vehicle, to sell alcoholic beverages, or to hunt and fish.

(d) "Order for support" means any judgment or order that provides for payments of a sum certain for the support of a child, whether it is temporary or final, and includes, but is not limited to, an order for reimbursement for public assistance or an order for making periodic payments on a support arrearage, or a sum certain due for a support arrearage.

(e) "Out of compliance with an order for support" means that the obligor is at least thirty (30) days in arrears or delinquent in making payments in full for current support, or in making periodic payments on a support arrearage.

(f) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

(g) "Division" means the division within the department that is charged with the state administration of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.

(h) "Delinquency" means any payments of a sum certain ordered by any court to be paid by a noncustodial parent for the support of a child that have remained unpaid for at least thirty (30) days after payment is due. Delinquency shall also include payments of a sum certain ordered by any court to be paid for maintenance of a spouse that have remained unpaid for at least thirty (30) days.

(i) "Temporary driver's license" means a license issued by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety pursuant to Section 93-11-157(16).

SECTION 2. Section 93-11-157, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

93-11-157. (1) The division shall review the information received under Section 93-11-155 and any other information available to the division, and shall determine if a licensee is out of compliance with an order for support. If a licensee is out of compliance with the order for support, the division shall notify the licensee by first class mail that ninety (90) days after the licensee receives the notice of being out of compliance with the order, the licensing entity will be notified to immediately suspend the licensee's license unless the licensee pays the arrearage owing, according to the accounting records of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or the attorney representing the party to whom support is due, as the case may be, or enters into a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment establishing a schedule for the payment of the arrearage. The licensee shall be presumed to have received the notice five (5) days after it is deposited in the mail.

(2) Upon receiving the notice provided in subsection (1) of this section the licensee may:

(a) Request a review with the division; however, the issues the licensee may raise at the review are limited to whether the licensee is the person required to pay under the order for support and whether the licensee is out of compliance with the order for support; or

(b) Request to participate in negotiations with the division for the purpose of establishing a payment schedule for the arrearage.

(3) The division director or the designees of the division director may and, upon request of a licensee, shall negotiate with a licensee to establish a payment schedule for the arrearage. Payments made under the payment schedule shall be in addition to the licensee's ongoing obligation under the latest entered periodic order for support.

(4) Should the division and the licensee reach an agreement on a payment schedule for the arrearage, the division director may submit to the court a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment containing the payment schedule which, upon the court's approval, is enforceable as any order of the court. If the court does not approve the stipulated agreement and agreed judgment, the court may require a hearing on a case-by-case basis for the judicial review of the payment schedule agreement.

(5) If the licensee and the division do not reach an agreement on a payment schedule for the arrearage, the licensee may move the court to establish a payment schedule. However, this action does not stay the license suspension.

(6) The notice given to a licensee that the licensee's license will be suspended in ninety (90) days must clearly state the remedies and procedures that are available to a licensee under this section.

(7) If at the end of the ninety (90) days the licensee has an arrearage according to the accounting records of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or the attorney representing the party to whom support is due, as the case may be, and the licensee has not entered into a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment establishing a payment schedule for the arrearage, the division shall immediately notify all applicable licensing entities in writing to suspend the licensee's license, and the licensing entities shall immediately suspend the license and shall within three (3) business days notify the licensee and the licensee's employer, where known, of the license suspension and the date of such suspension by certified mail return receipt requested. Within forty-eight (48) hours of receipt of a request in writing delivered personally, by mail or by electronic means, the department shall furnish to the licensee, licensee's attorney or other authorized representative a copy of the department's accounting records of the licensee's payment history. A licensing entity shall immediately reinstate the suspended license upon the division's notification of the licensing entities in writing that the licensee no longer has an arrearage or that the licensee has entered into a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment.

(8) Within thirty (30) days after a licensing entity suspends the licensee's license at the direction of the division under subsection (7) of this section, the licensee may appeal the license suspension to the chancery court of the county in which the licensee resides or to the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi, upon giving bond with sufficient sureties in the amount of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), approved by the clerk of the chancery court and conditioned to pay any costs that may be adjudged against the licensee. Notice of appeal shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the chancery court. If there is an appeal, the appeal may, in the discretion of and on motion to the chancery court, act as a supersedeas of the license suspension. The department shall be the appellee in the appeal, and the licensing entity shall not be a party in the appeal. The chancery court shall dispose of the appeal and enter its decision within thirty (30) days of the filing of the appeal. The hearing on the appeal may, in the discretion of the chancellor, be tried in vacation. The decision of the chancery court may be appealed to the Supreme Court in the manner provided by the rules of the Supreme Court. In the discretion of and on motion to the chancery court, no person shall be allowed to practice any business, occupation or profession or take any other action under the authority of any license the suspension of which has been affirmed by the chancery court while an appeal to the Supreme Court from the decision of the chancery court is pending.

(9) If a licensee who has entered a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment for the payment of an arrearage under this section subsequently is out of compliance with an order for support, the division shall immediately notify the licensing entity to suspend the licensee's license, and the licensing entity shall immediately suspend the license without a hearing and shall within three (3) business days notify the licensee in writing of the license suspension. In the case of a license suspension under the provisions of this subsection, the procedures provided for under subsections (1) and (2) of this section are not required; however, the appeal provisions of subsection (8) of this section still apply. After suspension of the license, if the licensee subsequently enters into a stipulated agreement and agreed judgment or the licensee otherwise informs the division of compliance with the order for support, the division shall within seven (7) days notify in writing the licensing entity that the licensee is in compliance. Upon receipt of that notice from the division, a licensing entity shall immediately reinstate the license of the licensee and shall within three (3) business days notify the licensee of the reinstatement.

(10) Nothing in this section prohibits a licensee from filing a motion for the modification of an order for support or for any other applicable relief. However, no such action shall stay the license suspension procedure, except as may be allowed under subsection (8) of this section.

(11) If a license is suspended under the provisions of this section, the licensing entity is not required to refund any fees paid by a licensee in connection with obtaining or renewing a license.

(12) The requirement of a licensing entity to suspend a license under this section does not affect the power of the licensing entity to deny, suspend, revoke or terminate a license for any other reason.

(13) The procedure for suspension of a license for being out of compliance with an order for support, and the procedure for the reissuance or reinstatement of a license suspended for that purpose, shall be governed by this section and not by the general licensing and disciplinary provisions applicable to a licensing entity. Actions taken by a licensing entity in suspending a license when required by this section are not actions from which an appeal may be taken under the general licensing and disciplinary provisions applicable to the licensing entity. Any appeal of a license suspension that is required by this section shall be taken in accordance with the appeal procedure specified in subsection (8) of this section rather than any procedure specified in the general licensing and disciplinary provisions applicable to the licensing entity. If there is any conflict between any provision of this section and any provision of the general licensing and disciplinary provisions applicable to a licensing entity, the provisions of this section shall control.

(14) No license shall be suspended under this section until ninety (90) days after July 1, 1996. This ninety-day period shall be a one-time amnesty period in which any person who may be subject to license suspension under this article may comply with an order of support in order to avoid the suspension of any license.

(15) Any individual who fails to comply with a subpoena or warrant relating to paternity or child support proceedings after receiving appropriate notice may be subject to suspension or withholding of issuance of a license under this section.

(16) (a) Upon receipt of an application by a licensee whose driver's license has been suspended under this section, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety is authorized to issue a temporary driver's license to an applicant. The temporary driver's license shall expire 150 days from the date of issuance, not including any days where the chancellor under subsection (8) reinstates the licensee's driver's license.

(b) A licensee under this subsection (16) shall be authorized to operate a motor vehicle only in connection with driving to and from the licensee's residence, place of employment or place of religious worship.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.