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Driver's License Suspension
Parents who are three months or more behind in child support payments can face suspension of their driver's licenses until they pay their obligations.
- In June 1999, the Commonwealth's Department of Public Welfare sent more than 56,000 letters to people who were one month or more behind in payments to warn them that their licenses could be suspended.
- Starting July 14, 1999, people whose licenses are in jeopardy are being sent a "notice of intent to suspend."
- They will have 30 days to contest the amount of past due support and can speak with a child support enforcement officer about special circumstances that prevented them from paying, such as illness or job layoff.
- The local Domestic Relations Section will decide whether the license should be suspended.
- After 30 days, the statewide computer system (PACSES) will generate an alert for enforcement officers in local domestic relations offices, and will print out an Order of suspension.
- Once the order is signed by a judge, the information will be sent via computer to the state Department of Transportation, which will process the license suspension.
- Parents will be required to send their licenses to PennDOT in Harrisburg and will not have them returned until the department gets verification from the local domestic relations section that the parents have
paid their support debts, made payment plans, or had their wages attached.
The suspension of a Pennsylvania Driver's License is a support enforcement remedy which is authorized the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and by Pennsylvania
Act 58 of 1997 (effective January 1, 1998). The state regulation may be found at 23 Pa. C.S.A. Section 4355. |
