§ 42-61.2-12. Prize - Set-off for child support debts. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 42-61-7 relating to assignment of prizes, the following set off provisions shall apply to the payment of any prize requiring the issuance of Internal Revenue Service Form W-2G by a video-lottery retailer (whether or not a table-game retailer) to a patron:

(1) With respect to a person entitled to receive the prize who has an unpaid child support order(s) arrearage(s) in excess of five hundred dollars ($500), as provided by the department of human services pursuant to subsection 42-61-7.1(3), the division of state lottery:

(i) Shall establish rules and regulations pursuant to § 42-61.2-3 and § 42-61.2-3.1 providing for the establishment and operation of a system whereby the division of state lottery shall have the ability to communicate such information to video-lottery retailers so as to identify a person entitled to receive a prize requiring the issuance of Internal Revenue Service Form W-2G who has an unpaid child support order(s) arrearage(s).

(ii) Upon receipt of information indicating an unpaid child support arrearage the video-lottery retailer shall set off against the amount due to that person an amount up to the balance of the child support arrearage(s). The video-lottery retailer shall then make payment as prescribed by the division of lottery to the Rhode Island family court in the case of child support arrearage(s) which shall deposit the amount set off into the registry of the family court for a period of forty-five (45) days, or if any application for review has been filed pursuant to subsection 27-57-1(d), until final disposition of the application until further order of the court.

(iii) The video-lottery retailer shall pay to this person the remaining balance of the prize amount, if any, after reduction of the amount set off above for child support.

(2) The division of lottery, the lottery director and the video-lottery retailer shall be discharged of all further liability upon payment of a prize pursuant to this section. Except in the case of gross negligence, the division of lottery, the lottery director and the video-lottery retailer shall not be liable to any party or person for failure to make such a set-off.

(3) The department of human services shall periodically within each year furnish the director with a list or compilation of names of individuals, together with any other identifying information and in a form that the director shall require, who as of the date of the list or compilation, have an unpaid child support order arrearage in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) as shown on the Rhode Island family court decrees department of human services child support enforcement computer system ("CSE system"). For the purposes of this section, the terms used in this section shall be given the meaning and definitions specified in § 15-16-2.

(4) Any party aggrieved by any action taken under this section may within thirty (30) days of the withholding of the payment by the lottery director seek judicial review in the family court, which may, in its discretion, issue a temporary order prohibiting the disbursement of funds under this section, pending final adjudication.

(5) Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, this section shall apply to all existing gambling facilities within the state as of the time of enactment and also to any gambling facility within this state which is established after the date of enactment.

History of Section. (P.L. 2006, ch. 326, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 438, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 289, § 6; P.L. 2012, ch. 290, § 6.)