BILL REQ. #:  S-0066.2 

Read first time 01/12/2007.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to administrative proceedings; and amending RCW 26.21A.525, 26.21A.520, 26.27.441, 53.48.030, and 13.34.080.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 26.21A.525 and 2002 c 198 s 606 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A nonregistering party seeking to contest the validity or enforcement of a registered order in this state shall request a hearing within twenty days after notice of the registration. The nonregistering party may seek to vacate the registration, to assert any defense to an allegation of noncompliance with the registered order, or to contest the remedies being sought or the amount of any alleged arrearages pursuant to RCW 26.21A.530.
     (2) If the nonregistering party fails to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order in a timely manner, the order is confirmed by operation of law.
     (3) If a nonregistering party ((requests a hearing to)) wishes to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order, the ((registering tribunal)) party shall schedule the matter for hearing and give notice to the other parties of the date, time, and place of the hearing.

Sec. 2   RCW 26.21A.520 and 2002 c 198 s 605 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) When a support order or income-withholding order issued in another state is registered, the registering ((tribunal)) party shall notify the nonregistering party. The notice must be accompanied by a copy of the registered order and the documents and relevant information accompanying the order.
     (2) A notice must inform the nonregistering party:
     (a) That a registered order is enforceable as of the date of registration in the same manner as an order issued by a tribunal of this state;
     (b) That a hearing to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order must be requested within twenty days after notice;
     (c) That failure to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order in a timely manner will result in confirmation of the order and enforcement of the order and the alleged arrearages; and
     (d) Of the amount of any alleged arrearages.
     (3) If the registering party asserts that two or more orders are in effect, a notice must also:
     (a) Identify the two or more orders and the order alleged by the registering person to be the controlling order and the consolidated arrears, if any;
     (b) Notify the nonregistering party of the right to a determination of which is the controlling order;
     (c) State that the procedures provided in subsection (2) of this section apply to the determination of which is the controlling order; and
     (d) State that failure to contest the validity or enforcement of the order alleged to be the controlling order in a timely manner may result in confirmation that the order is the controlling order.
     (4) Upon registration of an income-withholding order for enforcement, the registering ((tribunal)) party shall notify the obligor's employer pursuant to the income-withholding law of this state.

Sec. 3   RCW 26.27.441 and 2001 c 65 s 305 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A child custody determination issued by a court of another state may be registered in this state, with or without a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending to the appropriate court in this state:
     (a) A letter or other document requesting registration;
     (b) Two copies, including one certified copy, of the determination sought to be registered, and a statement under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person seeking registration, the determination has not been modified; and
     (c) Except as otherwise provided in RCW 26.27.281, the name and address of the person seeking registration and any parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody or visitation in the child custody determination sought to be registered.
     (2) On receipt of the documents required by subsection (1) of this section((, the registering court shall)):
     (a) The registering court shall cause the determination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with one copy of any accompanying documents and information, regardless of their form((; and)).
     (b) The registering party shall serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this section.
     (3) The notice required by subsection (2)(b) of this section must state that:
     (a) A registered determination is enforceable as of the date of the registration in the same manner as a determination issued by a court of this state;
     (b) A hearing to contest the validity of the registered determination must be requested within twenty days after service of notice; and
     (c) Failure to contest the registration will result in confirmation of the child custody determination and preclude further contest of that determination with respect to any matter that could have been asserted.
     (4) A person seeking to contest the validity of a registered determination must request a hearing within twenty days after service of the notice. At that hearing, the court shall confirm the registered determination unless the person contesting registration establishes that:
     (a) The issuing court did not have jurisdiction under Article 2;
     (b) The child custody determination sought to be registered has been vacated, stayed, or modified by a court having jurisdiction to do so under Article 2; or
     (c) The person contesting registration was entitled to notice, but notice was not given in accordance with the standards of RCW 26.27.081, in the proceedings before the court that issued the determination for which registration is sought.
     (5) If a timely request for a hearing to contest the validity of the registration is not made, the registration is confirmed as a matter of law and the person requesting registration ((and all persons served must be notified)) shall serve notice to all other persons served of the confirmation.
     (6) Confirmation of a registered determination, whether by operation of law or after notice and hearing, precludes further contest of the determination with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.

Sec. 4   RCW 53.48.030 and 1941 c 87 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     Upon the filing of such petition for an order of dissolution, the superior court shall enter an order setting the same for hearing at a date not less than thirty days from the date of filing, and the ((clerk of the court of said county)) petitioner shall give notice of such hearing by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the district is located once a week for three successive weeks, and by posting in three public places in the county in which the district is located at least twenty-one days before said hearing. At least one notice shall be posted in the district. The notices shall set forth the filing of the petition, its purpose and the date and place of the hearing thereon.

Sec. 5   RCW 13.34.080 and 2000 c 122 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The court shall direct the ((clerk)) department of social and health services to publish notice in a legal newspaper printed in the county, qualified to publish summons, once a week for three consecutive weeks, with the first publication of the notice to be at least twenty-five days prior to the date fixed for the hearing when it appears by the petition or verified statement that:
     (a)(i) The parent or guardian is a nonresident of this state; or
     (ii) The name or place of residence or whereabouts of the parent or guardian is unknown; and
     (b) After due diligence, the person attempting service of the summons or notice provided for in RCW 13.34.070 has been unable to make service, and a copy of the notice has been deposited in the post office, postage prepaid, directed to such person at his or her last known place of residence. If the parent, guardian, or legal custodian is believed to be a resident of another state or a county other than the county in which the petition has been filed, notice also shall be published in the county in which the parent, guardian, or legal custodian is believed to reside.
     (2) Publication may proceed simultaneously with efforts to provide service in person or by mail, when the court determines there is reason to believe that service in person or by mail will not be successful. Notice shall be directed to the parent, parents, or other person claiming the right to the custody of the child, if their names are known. If their names are unknown, the phrase "To whom it may concern" shall be used, apply to, and be binding upon, those persons whose names are unknown. The name of the court, the name of the child (or children if of one family), the date of the filing of the petition, the date of hearing, and the object of the proceeding in general terms shall be set forth. There shall be filed with the clerk an affidavit showing due publication of the notice. The cost of publication shall be paid by the county at a rate not greater than the rate paid for other legal notices. The publication of notice shall be deemed equivalent to personal service upon all persons, known or unknown, who have been designated as provided in this section.