Effective 28 Aug 2013

488.5028. Court cost delinquencies, income tax setoff may be requested, procedure. — 1. If a person fails to pay court costs, fines, fees, or other sums ordered by a court, to be paid to the state or political subdivision, a court may report any such delinquencies in excess of twenty-five dollars to the office of state courts administrator and request that the state courts administrator seek a setoff of an income tax refund. The state courts administrator shall set guidelines necessary to effectuate the purpose of the offset program. The office of state courts administrator also shall seek a setoff of any income tax refund and lottery prize payouts made to a person whose name has been reported to the office as being delinquent pursuant to section 221.070.

2. The office of state courts administrator shall provide to:

(1) The department of revenue, the information necessary to identify each debtor whose refund is sought to be set off and the amount of the debt or debts owed by any debtor who is entitled to a tax refund in excess of twenty-five dollars and any debtor under section 221.070 who is entitled to a tax refund of any amount; and

(2) The state lottery commission, the information necessary to identify each debtor whose lottery prize payouts are sought to be set off and the amount of the debt or debts owed by the debtor under section 221.070.

3. The department of revenue shall notify the office of state courts administrator that a refund has been set off, and the state lottery commission shall notify the office when a lottery prize payout has been set off, on behalf of a court. The department or commission shall certify the amount of such setoff, which shall not exceed the amount of the claimed debt certified. When the refund owed or lottery prize payouts exceed the claimed debt, the department of revenue when a refund is set off, or the state lottery commission when lottery prizes are set off, shall send the excess amount to the debtor within a reasonable time after such excess is determined.

4. The office of state courts administrator shall notify the debtor by mail that a setoff has been sought. The notice shall contain the following:

(1) The name of the debtor;

(2) The manner in which the debt arose;

(3) The amount of the claimed debt and the department's intention to set off the refund or the lottery commission's intention to set off the lottery prize payouts against the debt;

(4) The amount, if any, of the refund or lottery prize payouts due after setoff against the debt; and

(5) The right of the debtor to apply in writing to the court originally requesting setoff for review of the setoff because the debt was previously satisfied.

­­Any debtor applying to the court for review of the setoff shall file a written application within thirty days of the date of mailing of the notice and send a copy of the application to the office of state courts administrator. The application for review of the setoff shall contain the name of the debtor, the case name and number from which the debt arose, and the grounds for review. The court may upon application, or on its own motion, hold a hearing on the application. The hearing shall be ancillary to the original action with the only matters for determination whether the setoff was appropriate because the debt was unsatisfied at the time the court reported the delinquency to the office of state courts administrator and that the debt remains unsatisfied. In the case of a joint or combined return, the notice sent by the department shall contain the name of the nonobligated taxpayer named in the return, if any, against whom no debt is claimed. The notice shall state that as to the nonobligated taxpayer that no debt is owed and that the taxpayer is entitled to a refund regardless of the debt owed by such other person or persons named on the joint or combined return. The nonobligated taxpayer may seek a refund as provided in section 143.784.

5. Upon receipt of funds transferred from the department of revenue or the state lottery commission to the office of state courts administrator pursuant to a setoff, the state courts administrator shall deposit such funds in the state treasury to be held in an escrow account, which is hereby established. Interest earned on those funds shall be credited to the escrow account and used to offset administrative expenses. If a debtor files with a court an application for review, the state courts administrator shall hold such sums in question until directed by such court to release the funds. If no application for review is filed, the state courts administrator shall, within forty-five days of receipt of funds from the department, send to the clerk of the court in which the debt arose such sums as are collected by the department of revenue for credit to the debtor's account.

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(L. 2003 H.B. 600, A.L. 2013 S.B. 42)