West Virginia Supreme Court

Janet Hornbeck, Intervenor Below, Appellant v. John E. Caplinger and Bureau for Child Support Enforcement…

June 14, 2011227 W. Va. 611

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts’ rulings that the Bureau of Child Support Enforcement’s method of applying excess child‑support payments to arrearage principal before interest is a permissible interpretive rule within the agency’s statutory authority. The Court held that the allocation scheme reflects legislative intent and that the agency’s rule is entitled to persuasive weight but not beyond its delegated power.

Holding

  • Whether West Virginia law requires child‑support arrearage payments to be applied to accrued interest before principal, or permits the BCSE’s method of applying excess payments to principal first.. The Court held that the BCSE’s method of applying excess child‑support payments to arrearage principal before interest is permissible and consistent with legislative intent; the family court did not err.
  • Whether the BCSE’s allocation procedure is an interpretive rule under the APA and thus within the agency’s authority.. The Court classified the allocation procedure as an interpretive rule, not a legislative rule, and held that such a rule is permissible so long as it remains within the agency’s statutory delegation.

Docket 35678

Cited authorities

  • R.6
  • Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-510
  • W. Va. Code § 56-6-29
  • W. Va. Code § 48
  • W. Va. Code § 56-6-31
  • W. Va. Code § 48-1-302
  • W. Va. Code § 48-1-302
  • W. Va. Code § 48

Cited by

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