Rule 1301: Child Support Guidelines Advisory Committee

(a)   Purpose. The Child Support Guidelines Committee is established for the purpose of complying with Chapter 45, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 302.56, which requires that state guidelines for child support be “reviewed at least every four years to ensure that their application results in the determination of appropriate child support amounts.” This Committee is responsible for reviewing economic data relating to the cost of raising children and analyzing case data, gathered through sampling or other methods, on the application of, and deviations from, the guidelines.

(b)   Appointment, Qualifications. The Supreme Court will appoint the members of the Committee, which must include district judges, attorneys with considerable experience representing parents paying and receiving child support, attorneys employed by the State IV-D agency’s child support enforcement division, attorneys with accounting or tax preparation experience, and child support obligors and obligees.

(c)   Terms. The terms of the inaugural members of the Committee will be staggered. The terms of five members will be six years, the terms of four members will be five years, and the terms of four members will be four years. At the expiration of the inaugural member’s term, the term of each succeeding member of the Committee will be four years. No member of the Committee will be eligible for more than three consecutive four-year terms. A member appointed to complete an unexpired term is eligible to serve two more consecutive four-year terms. A member is eligible for one or more additional terms after a break in service.

(d)   Chair. The Supreme Court will designate a member of the Committee to serve as the chair.

(e)   Member Disqualification. A member who, for any reason, no longer represents the entity which the member represented at the time of appointment must notify the Kansas Supreme Court through the Office of Judicial Administration within 30 days of the change in status. This notice of a change in status may, at the discretion of the Court, constitute the member’s resignation as a member of the committee, and the Court may appoint another individual to the committee to represent that entity.

(f)    OJA Representative and Liaison Justice.

(1)   In addition to the members described in subsection (b):

(A)   there will be a permanent, nonvoting seat on the committee for a representative of the Office of Judicial Administration; and

(B)   the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will designate a Supreme Court Justice to serve as liaison to the Committee.

(2)   The persons serving the Committee under paragraph (1) are not subject to a term limit under subsection (c).

[History: New rule adopted effective July 1, 2012.]