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House approves driver-license suspension for nonpayment of child support after amendments
Summary
House passes HB 297 to permit suspension of driving privileges for noncustodial parents who pay nothing in child support; sponsors and critics argued over fairness, enforcement and whether existing tools suffice. An amendment added reciprocal sanction for custodial parents who violate visitation orders.
The Utah House approved House Bill 297, a child-support enforcement measure that allows suspension of driver’s licenses for noncustodial parents who fail to pay court-ordered child support. Sponsors described the bill as targeted at people who are paying nothing and said the measure complements existing income-withholding tools for salaried workers.
The sponsor moved pink-sheet amendments clarifying enforcement mechanics and said the bill is intended to be nonpunitive and used rarely to coerce chronic nonpayers. "We're only going after people who are absolutely paying nothing, nothing," the sponsor said during debate.
Opponents questioned whether license suspension undermines a parent's ability to work and pay support. Representative Mortimer and others urged greater use of existing criminal contempt or administrative remedies, arguing enforcement capacity and definition of "visitation" might be problematic. Supporters cited other states’ court rulings upholding similar statutes and said revocations are uncommon; one sponsor noted that in another state thousands of prosecutions produced fewer than 25 license revocations.
During floor debate, the House adopted an amendment that also subjects custodial parents who fail to comply with visitation orders to license revocation, aiming to balance enforcement consequences. After extended debate the House recorded 40 yes and 33 no votes and passed the bill to forward it to the Senate for consideration.
Next steps: HB 297 will be transmitted to the Senate; implementation will depend on the Office of Recovery Services’ rulemaking and any court-ordered processes required by the bill’s language.
