10.05.540 Collection of past due support.
(A) To collect the payment due, the custodian of a child shall file with the Tribal Court:
(1) A motion requesting establishment of a judgment;
(2) An affidavit that states that one (1) or more payments of support are thirty (30) or more days past due and that specifies the amounts past due and the dates they became past due; and
(3) Notice of the obligor’s right to respond. Service on the obligor must be in the manner provided in Tribal Court Rules of Court (Chapter 3.10 KTC).
(4) The child’s custodian shall file with the Tribal Court proof of service of the petition, affidavit, and notice.
(5) The obligor shall respond no later than twenty (20) days after service by filing an affidavit with the Tribal Court.
(6) If the obligor’s affidavit states that the obligor has paid any of the amounts claimed to be delinquent, describes in detail the method of payment or offers any other defense to the petition, then the obligor is entitled to a hearing.
(7) After the hearing, if any, the Tribal Court shall enter a judgment for the amount of money owed.
(8) If the obligor does not file an affidavit under this article, the Tribal Court shall enter a default judgment against the obligor. The amount owed will include interest in the amount of five (5) percent on the past-due support.
(B) For each noncustodial parent against whom a support order is or has been issued or modified, so much of his or her income must be withheld as is necessary to comply with the order. At any time, the Tribal Council may determine whether “income” should exclude per capita, trust, or IIM payments as allowed under 45 C.F.R. Section 309.05.
(C) In addition to amounts withheld by garnishment or assignment to pay the current month’s obligation, the amount withheld must include an amount to be applied toward liquidation of any overdue support amount.
(D) The total amount to be withheld under subsections (B) and (C) of this section may not exceed the maximum amount permitted under Section 303(b) of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1673(b)), but may be set at a lower amount.
(E) Income withholding, by assignment or garnishment, must comply with procedural due process requirements as established by Tribal law.
(F) The Tribe, its departments, entities and other relevant entities through MOUs, including a Tribal Child Support Enforcement Agency if and when established, shall promptly refund amounts which have been improperly withheld.
(G) The Tribe, its departments and entities, including a Tribal Child Support Enforcement Agency if and when established, shall promptly terminate income withholding in cases where there is no longer a current order for support and all arrearages have been satisfied.
(H) If the employer fails to withhold income in accordance with the provisions of the income withholding order, the employer will be liable for the accumulated amount the employer should have withheld from the noncustodial parent’s income.
(I) Income shall not be subject to withholding in any case where:
(1) Either the custodial or noncustodial parent demonstrates, and the Tribal Court enters a finding, that there is good cause not to require income withholding; or
(2) A signed written agreement is reached between the noncustodial and custodial parent, which provides for an alternative arrangement, and is reviewed and entered into the record by the Tribal Court.
(J) Where immediate income withholding is not in place, the income of the noncustodial parent shall become subject to withholding, at the earliest, on the date on which payments which the noncustodial parent has failed to make under a Tribal Court support order are at least equal to the support payable for one (1) month.
(K) The only basis for contesting a withholding is a mistake of fact, which for purposes of this subsection means an error in the amount of current or overdue support or in the identity of the alleged noncustodial parent.
(L) Any employer who discharges a noncustodial parent from employment, refuses to employ, or takes disciplinary action against any noncustodial parent because of the withholding shall be subject to a maximum fine of three hundred dollars ($300) per incident.
(M) The Tribal Court, or a Tribal Child Support Enforcement Agency, if established, must send the noncustodial parent’s employer a notice using the standard federal income withholding form to initiate income withholding.
(N) The Tribal Court, or a Tribal Child Support Enforcement Agency, if established, must allocate withheld amounts across multiple withholding orders to ensure that in no case shall allocation result in a withholding for one (1) of the support obligations not being implemented.
(O) The Tribal Court, or a Tribal Child Support Enforcement Agency, if established, is responsible for receiving and processing income withholding orders from states, tribes, and other entities, and ensuring orders are properly and promptly served on employers within the Tribe’s jurisdiction.
(P) The Tribal Council may enter into a reciprocal child support enforcement agreement with the state of California, or its political subdivisions, for the purpose of enforcing and distributing support obligations in the Karuk Ancestral Territory. [Res. 09-R-062 Title 2 § (7)(G), 4/30/2009.]