Arrington v. Fuller

No. 2001-D-923-N (M.D. Ala., filed Jan. 14, 2003) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55029

Description

Parents Win Partial Preliminary Injunction in Challenge to Alabama’s Child Support Distribution

Abstract

Partially granting plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion in a class action challenging Alabama’s failure timely and accurately to process, distribute, and disburse child support payments, the district court ordered the state to freeze in trust state income tax refunds to which named plaintiffs were entitled as child support; the state was to freeze the funds until it could properly distribute them in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 657. Plaintiffs are custodial parents who rely on child support, family assistance, or both and noncustodial parents who timely pay child support that the state processes. Suing the heads of three state agencies responsible for child support collection and distribution, plaintiffs also challenge defendants’ failure to give them adequate notice of amounts collected and distributed and the taking of an administrative fee from each payment collected. They allege violations of Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, state child support enforcement laws, and federal and state regulations and constitutions. Plaintiffs contend that defendants wrongly distribute intercepted state income tax refunds because Section 657 requires that past-due support owed to former recipients of family assistance or Aid to Families with Dependent Children be distributed first to families to repay arrears and only then to the government to repay aid. With class certification pending, the court ruled that plaintiffs had an enforceable right under Section 657 via Section 1983 and thus were likely to prevail on the merits of a claim. The court ordered defendant human resources commissioner to affirm that the software for distributing collected tax rebates in accordance with Section 657 was in place or show why the court should not certify the class.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs' represented by Maryanne Price, 631 South Perry St., Montgomery, AL 36104 (334.262.1006)
Docket Date
2003-01-14 00:00:00+00:00