Florida Senate - 2024                              CS for SB 118
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Criminal Justice; and Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       
       
       591-02986-24                                           2024118c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to fees; amending s. 775.088, F.S.;
    3         authorizing payors to collect certain administrative
    4         costs from the defendant’s income, as a part of the
    5         notice that is required to accompany income deduction
    6         orders; providing a contingent effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section
   11  775.088, Florida Statutes, as created by SB 116, 2024 Regular
   12  Session, is amended to read:
   13         775.088 Child maintenance restitution.—
   14         (6)
   15         (b) Enforcement of income deduction orders.—
   16         1. The clerk of the court or the defendant’s probation
   17  officer shall serve an income deduction order and the notice
   18  described in subparagraph 4. to each of the defendant’s payors,
   19  unless the defendant has applied for a hearing to contest the
   20  enforcement of the income deduction order.
   21         2.a. Service by or upon any person who is a party to a
   22  proceeding under this paragraph must be made in the manner
   23  prescribed in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure for service
   24  upon parties.
   25         b. Service upon the defendant’s payor or successor payor
   26  under this paragraph must be made by prepaid certified mail,
   27  return receipt requested, or in the manner prescribed in chapter
   28  48.
   29         3. Within 15 days after having an income deduction order
   30  entered against him or her, the defendant may apply for a
   31  hearing to contest the enforcement of the income deduction order
   32  on the ground of mistake of fact regarding the amount of
   33  restitution owed. The timely request for a hearing stays the
   34  service of an income deduction order on all payors of the
   35  defendant until a hearing is held and a determination is made as
   36  to whether the enforcement of the income deduction order is
   37  proper.
   38         4. The notice to each payor may contain only that
   39  information necessary for the payor to comply with the income
   40  deduction order. The notice must:
   41         a. Require the payor to deduct from the defendant’s income
   42  the amount specified in the income deduction order and to pay
   43  that amount to the clerk of the court;
   44         b. Instruct the payor to implement the income deduction
   45  order no later than the first payment date that occurs more than
   46  14 days after the date the income deduction order was served on
   47  the payor;
   48         c. Instruct the payor to forward within 2 days after each
   49  payment date to the clerk of the court the amount deducted from
   50  the defendant’s income and a statement as to whether the amount
   51  totally or partially satisfies the periodic amount specified in
   52  the income deduction order;
   53         d. Specify that, if a payor fails to deduct the proper
   54  amount from the defendant’s income, the payor is liable for the
   55  amount the payor should have deducted plus costs, interest, and
   56  reasonable attorney fees;
   57         e. Provide that the payor may collect up to $5 from the
   58  defendant’s income to reimburse the payor for administrative
   59  costs for the first income deduction and up to $2 for each
   60  deduction thereafter;
   61         f. State that the income deduction order and the notice to
   62  payor are binding on the payor until further notice by the court
   63  or until the payor no longer provides income to the defendant;
   64         g.f. Instruct the payor that, when he or she no longer
   65  provides income to the defendant, the payor must notify the
   66  clerk of the court and must also provide the defendant’s last
   67  known address and the name and address of the defendant’s new
   68  payor, if known, and that, if the payor violates this sub
   69  subparagraph, the payor is subject to a civil penalty not to
   70  exceed $250 for the first violation or $500 for any subsequent
   71  violation;
   72         h.g. State that the payor may not discharge, refuse to
   73  employ, or take disciplinary action against the defendant
   74  because of an income deduction order and that a violation of
   75  this sub-subparagraph subjects the payor to a civil penalty not
   76  to exceed $250 for the first violation or $500 for any
   77  subsequent violation;
   78         i.h. Inform the payor that, when he or she receives income
   79  deduction orders requiring that the income of two or more
   80  defendants be deducted and sent to the same clerk of the court,
   81  the payor may combine the amounts that are to be paid to the
   82  depository in a single payment as long as he or she identifies
   83  the portion of the payment attributable to each defendant; and
   84         j.i. Inform the payor that if the payor receives more than
   85  one income deduction order against the same defendant, he or she
   86  must contact the court for further instructions.
   87         5. The clerk of the court shall enforce income deduction
   88  orders against the defendant’s successor payor who is located in
   89  this state in the same manner prescribed in this subsection for
   90  the enforcement of an income deduction order against an original
   91  payor.
   92         6. A person may not discharge, refuse to employ, or take
   93  disciplinary action against an employee because of the
   94  enforcement of an income deduction order. An employer who
   95  violates this subparagraph is subject to a civil penalty not to
   96  exceed $250 for the first violation or $500 for any subsequent
   97  violation.
   98         7. When a payor no longer provides income to a defendant,
   99  the payor must notify the clerk of the court and must provide
  100  the defendant’s last known address and the name and address of
  101  the defendant’s new payor, if known. A payor who violates this
  102  subparagraph is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $250
  103  for the first violation or $500 for a subsequent violation.
  104         Section 2. This act shall take effect on the same date that
  105  SB 116 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation
  106  is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension
  107  thereof and becomes a law.