§ 15-22-1 - Access to information.
SECTION 15-22-1
§ 15-22-1 Access to information. –(a) The department of administration, division of taxation, child supportenforcement services, and/or any other state or federal agency taking action toestablish paternity, establish or modify child support and/or medical orders,enforce child support and/or medical orders, or to locate an individual forthese reasons, shall have access to and may request information from theindividuals and the entities named in this section. The information shall beavailable to the department only for the purpose of and to the extent necessaryfor the administration of the child support enforcement program. No entity orindividual who complies with this section shall be liable in any civil orcriminal action or proceeding brought by an obligor or an obligee on account ofcompliance. Holders maintaining personal data are authorized to disclose to thedepartment all personal data requested pursuant to this section, and thedisclosures shall not violate the provisions of § 38-2-2. Any entity orindividual who, without reasonable cause, fails to reply to a request pursuantto this subsection or who, without reasonable cause, fails to comply with arequest within twenty (20) days of receipt, shall be liable for a civil penaltyof one hundred dollars ($100) for each violation, to be assessed by thedepartment or by the family court. The department may secure information towhich it is entitled by any method including, but not limited to, requests bypaper, facsimile, telephone, magnetic tape, or other electronic means.
(b) Information to which the department shall be entitledincludes, but is not limited to, state income tax returns and all state incometax information, including address, filing status, and the number of dependentsreported on any return filed by any obligor, any other information, thecontents and nature of which shall be determined and approved by the taxadministrator, and the federal tax data as permitted by federal law.
(2) The information included in this provision shall be dataor tax returns in any form or format, including data available by electronicmeans which is directly related to the obligor.
(c) Unless otherwise limited by statute, the department shallbe entitled to all criminal offender record information of the obligor which isnecessary to locate the obligor or establish the obligor's ability to payincluding, but not limited to, national criminal information center (NCIC)records and bureau of criminal identification (BCI) records maintained by thedepartment of the attorney general and the quarterly contribution reports ofthe department of labor and training.
(d) Unless otherwise limited by federal statute, thedepartment may require disclosure of information relating to the obligorincluding, but not limited to, the obligor's location, employment, title toproperty, credit status, or professional affiliation to assist the departmentto determine the current whereabouts of an obligor from any source including,but not limited to, any state or municipal agency, utility company, includingtelephone, assessor's offices, and housing authorities, employers, professionalor trade associations and labor unions, professional or trade licensing boards,banks and other financial institutions, credit bureaus or agencies, or anyother individual or entity which the department has reason to believe may haveinformation that relates to or may assist in the location of the obligor. Thefailure of an individual or entity to provide the department, within the timeand in the manner that the department may provide by regulation, withinformation relating to, or that may assist in locating, an obligor shall bepunishable by a civil penalty to be assessed by the family court or thedepartment of administration, division of taxation, in the amount of onehundred dollars ($100) for each failure, and the individual or entity shall berequired to provide the information.
(e) The department may request from any employer or othersource of income whom the department has reason to believe employs an obligor,or otherwise provides the obligor with regular periodic income, informationconcerning the dates and amounts of income paid, the last known address, socialsecurity number, and available health care benefits. The department shall notinquire of an employer or other source of income concerning the same obligormore than once every three months. Employers or other sources of income shallrespond to the requests truthfully and in writing. No employer or other sourceof income who complies with this section shall be liable in any civil action orproceeding brought by the obligor on account of such compliance. Any employeror other source of income who, without good cause, fails to comply with arequest as required by this section, within twenty (20) days of receipt of therequest, shall be liable for a civil penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) perday for each day of violation to be assessed by the family court or thedepartment of administration, division of taxation, and shall be required toprovide the information.
(f) The department shall use the information gatheredpursuant to this chapter only for purposes of administering the child supportenforcement program and shall not disclose the information, other than the nameand address of the obligor, except in proceedings or other activities to locateor identify obligors, to evaluate the ability of obligors to pay child support,to establish, modify, or enforce child support orders, to collect childsupport, or in criminal prosecutions for failure to pay child support. Anyemployee of the department that uses or discloses the information in any othermanner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of notmore than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment for not more thansix (6) months, or both.
[See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]