A. The division shall notify the human services department of the name of any individual who files a new claim for unemployment compensation and who is determined to be eligible for benefits.

B. The division shall deduct and withhold from any unemployment compensation otherwise payable to an individual who owes child support obligations:

(1) the amount specified by the individual to be deducted and withheld, if an amount is not specified under Paragraph (2) or (3) of this subsection;

(2) the amount specified in an agreement between the individual and the child support enforcement bureau of the human services department, pursuant to Section 454(20)(B)(i) of the Social Security Act, a copy of which has been provided to the division by the child support enforcement bureau; or

(3) any amount otherwise required to be so deducted and withheld from such unemployment compensation pursuant to a writ of garnishment or other legal process for enforcement of judgments issued by any court or administrative agency of competent jurisdiction in any state, territory or possession of the United States or any foreign country with which the United States has an agreement to honor such process directed to the human services department for the purpose of enforcing an individual's obligation to provide child support.

C. Any amount withheld from the unemployment compensation benefits due a claimant shall be considered as payment of unemployment compensation benefits to the claimant and paid by the individual in satisfaction of his child support obligations.

D. The amount of child support obligations withheld by the division pursuant to this section shall be paid to the human services department.

E. As used in this section, "unemployment compensation benefits" means benefits payable under the Unemployment Compensation Law and amounts payable by or through the division pursuant to an agreement under any federal law providing for compensation, assistance or allowance with respect to unemployment.

F. As used in this section, "child support obligations" includes only obligations that are being enforced pursuant to a plan described in Section 454 of the Social Security Act that has been approved by the United States secretary of health and human services under Part D of Title 4 of the Social Security Act.

G. The human services department shall reimburse the division for the administrative costs incurred by it that are attributable to the child support obligations being enforced by the human services department. If the human services department and the division fail to agree on the amount of such administrative costs, the state budget division of the department of finance and administration shall prescribe the amount of administrative costs to be reimbursed.

History: 1978 Comp., § 51-1-37.1, enacted by Laws 1982, ch. 41, § 4; 1983, ch. 199, § 7; 1998, ch. 91, § 7.

Cross references. — For establishment of bureaus within divisions of the human services department, see 9-8-10 NMSA 1978.

For rules governing garnishment and writs of execution in the district, magistrate and metropolitan courts, see Rules 1-065.1, 2-801, and 3-801 NMRA, respectively.

For form for claim of exemptions on executions, see Rule 4-803 NMRA.

For form for order on claim of exemption and order to pay in execution proceedings, see Rule 4-804 NMRA.

For form for application for writ of garnishment and affidavit, see Rule 4-805 NMRA.

For form for notice of right to claim exemptions from execution, see Rule 4-808A NMRA.

For form for claim of exemption from garnishment, see Rule 4-809 NMRA.

For Section 454 of the federal Social Security Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 654.

For Part D of Title IV of the Social Security Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.

The 1998 amendment, effective July 1, 1998, rewrote Subsection A; substituted "division" for "employment security department" throughout the section; in Paragraph B(3), inserted "or administrative agency" following "any court" and "human services" preceding "department"; in Subsection C, inserted "unemployment compensation" near the beginning; in Subsection E, inserted "As used in this section," at the beginning, substituted "benefits" for "compensation" and "amounts" for "any compensation"; inserted "As used in this section," at the beginning of subsection F; in Subsection G, substituted "it that" for "the employment security department which"; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.