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CITE

    18 USC Sec. 228                                             01/05/2009

EXPCITE

    TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
    PART I - CRIMES
    CHAPTER 11A - CHILD SUPPORT

HEAD

    Sec. 228. Failure to pay legal child support obligations

STATUTE

      (a) Offense. - Any person who -
        (1) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to
      a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has
      remained unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater
      than $5,000;
        (2) travels in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent
      to evade a support obligation, if such obligation has remained
      unpaid for a period longer than 1 year, or is greater than
      $5,000; or
        (3) willfully fails to pay a support obligation with respect to
      a child who resides in another State, if such obligation has
      remained unpaid for a period longer than 2 years, or is greater
      than $10,000;
    shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
      (b) Presumption. - The existence of a support obligation that was
    in effect for the time period charged in the indictment or
    information creates a rebuttable presumption that the obligor has
    the ability to pay the support obligation for that time period.
      (c) Punishment. - The punishment for an offense under this
    section is -
        (1) in the case of a first offense under subsection (a)(1), a
      fine under this title, imprisonment for not more than 6 months,
      or both; and
        (2) in the case of an offense under paragraph (2) or (3) of
      subsection (a), or a second or subsequent offense under
      subsection (a)(1), a fine under this title, imprisonment for not
      more than 2 years, or both.
      (d) Mandatory Restitution. - Upon a conviction under this
    section, the court shall order restitution under section 3663A in
    an amount equal to the total unpaid support obligation as it exists
    at the time of sentencing.
      (e) Venue. - With respect to an offense under this section, an
    action may be inquired of and prosecuted in a district court of the
    United States for -
        (1) the district in which the child who is the subject of the
      support obligation involved resided during a period during which
      a person described in subsection (a) (referred to in this
      subsection as an "obliger") failed to meet that support
      obligation;
        (2) the district in which the obliger resided during a period
      described in paragraph (1); or
        (3) any other district with jurisdiction otherwise provided for
      by law.
      (f) Definitions. - As used in this section -
        (1) the term "Indian tribe" has the meaning given that term in
      section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of
      1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a);
        (2) the term "State" includes any State of the United States,
      the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, territory, or
      possession of the United States; and
        (3) the term "support obligation" means any amount determined
      under a court order or an order of an administrative process
      pursuant to the law of a State or of an Indian tribe to be due
      from a person for the support and maintenance of a child or of a
      child and the parent with whom the child is living.

SOURCE

    (Added Pub. L. 102-521, Sec. 2(a), Oct. 25, 1992, 106 Stat. 3403;
    amended Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, Sec. 607(l), Oct. 11, 1996, 110
    Stat. 3512; Pub. L. 105-187, Sec. 2, June 24, 1998, 112 Stat. 618.)

AMENDMENTS

      1998 - Pub. L. 105-187 reenacted section catchline without change
    and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted
    of subsecs. (a) to (d) relating to a description of the offense,
    punishment for an offense, restitution upon conviction of an
    offense, and definitions of terms used in this section.
      1996 - Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 104-294 inserted "commonwealth,"
    before "possession or territory of the United States".
                       SHORT TITLE OF 1998 AMENDMENT
      Pub. L. 105-187, Sec. 1, June 24, 1998, 112 Stat. 618, provided
    that: "This Act [amending this section] may be cited as the
    'Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act of 1998'."
                                SHORT TITLE
      Section 1 of Pub. L. 102-521 provided that: "This Act [enacting
    this section and sections 3796cc to 3796cc-6 of Title 42, The
    Public Health and Welfare, amending section 3563 of this title and
    section 3797 of Title 42, and enacting provisions set out as a note
    under section 12301 of Title 42] may be cited as the 'Child Support
    Recovery Act of 1992'."