Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (2026)
Establishment of central collection and disbursement unit
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a)
- (1) Effective October 1, 1999, the department of human services shall become the central collection and disbursement unit for the state as required by 42 U.S.C. § 654b. All orders in Title IV-D support cases, and all orders for income assignments that have directed support to be paid to the clerk of any court, and that are subject to 42 U.S.C. § 654b, shall be deemed to require that the support be sent to the central collection and disbursement unit, any order of the court notwithstanding.
- (2) When the department or its contractor acts as the central collection and disbursement unit, then, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the fee paid by the obligor for the collection and disbursement of child support pursuant to § 8-21-403 shall be paid to the department with respect to payments collected or disbursed by the central system. The processing of such fees shall be conducted in such a manner as will not adversely affect compliance with federal law or regulations and will not adversely affect federal funding for the Title IV-A block grant program and the Title IV-D child support program; provided, the department may by rules promulgated pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, reduce the fee provided in § 8-21-403 with respect to cases under the centralized collection and disbursement unit.
- (b)
- (1) Each clerk shall submit to the department, in the manner described in subsection (c), on a daily basis on the day the order is entered, the information required to permit the department to process all payments for child and spousal support that are required by federal law to be collected and disbursed by the federally mandated state collection and disbursement unit, and such other information necessary to update the processing of information for collection and disbursement, if contained in the court records.
- (2) The clerks' services for providing such information shall be paid by the department according to the reimbursement process established by § 36-5-117.
- (c) The clerks of court who have opted out and those clerks who operate a Tennessee child support enforcement system (TCSES) or TCSES interface computer system, including the model interface system, shall have the same options as contained in § 36-5-115(c) for transmitting data required for the processing of information relative to the collection and disbursement of child and spousal support as required by this section. The clerk must, however, choose the same method of transmission of data for both the central case registry and the central collection data transmission.
- (d)
- (1) Following implementation of the federally required central collection and disbursement unit, each clerk shall remain responsible for receipt of all support payments not subject to the requirements of the centralized collection and disbursement system.
- (2) Payments received by the clerk for support cases that are not Title IV-D cases or that are not otherwise subject to the requirements of a central collection or disbursement system shall not be included in the cost reimbursement and shall be subject to the fees permitted by § 8-21-403 or such other fees permitted by law. Payments that are received by the clerk in cases subject to the central collection and disbursement system shall be distributed to the centralized collection and disbursement system; provided, that the clerks shall be reimbursed the costs of such services pursuant to § 36-5-117.
- (e)
- (1) By August 31, 2002, and to the extent required by federal law, the department of human services shall provide a monthly notice to the custodial parent or other caretaker of the child who receives child support payments from the central collection and disbursement unit established by this section, when a child support payment is received or distributed by the department during the reporting month.
- (2) The recipients of monthly notices shall include:
- (A) Current Families First recipients;
- (B) Former Families First recipients, to include former Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients;
- (C) Any other persons who are recipients of Title IV-D child support services from the department; and
- (D) Any other persons who receive payments from the central collection and disbursement unit.
- (3) The notice to each custodial parent or other caretaker shall include, in an easily understood format, the following information relative to the child support payments:
- (A) Custodial parent's or other caretaker's name;
- (B) Noncustodial parent's name;
- (C) TCSES case number;
- (D) Court docket number;
- (E) The amount of the current child support payment or payments issued to the custodial parent or other caretaker of the child;
- (F) The date on which the child support payment or payments were issued to the custodial parent or other caretaker of the child;
- (G) The total of all child support payments issued to date during the current year;
- (H) Information regarding the right to administrative review and appeal;
- (I) Understandable, case-specific information regarding negative numbers and adjustments related to the collection, distribution and disbursement of child support that are shown on the notice of collection in the cases subject to this subsection (e);
- (J) The date the child support payment or payments were received;
- (K) The toll-free number for accessing child support customer service; and
- (L) Where available, the following additional information shall be provided:
- (i) The custodial parent's or other caretaker's member identification number;
- (ii) The court location of the court in which the order is established;
- (iii) The court-ordered child support amount for both current child support and for amounts of child support that are in arrears; and
- (iv) The date of the court order in effect.
- (4) In addition, for current or former recipients of Families First, the following information shall be provided to the custodial parent or caretaker of the child:
- (A) Any information required by federal law or regulation;
- (B) The federal rules for distribution of child support as they may be related to the specific category of either current Families First or former Families First recipients;
- (C) The unmet need amount for current Families First recipients;
- (D) The category, specifically either current Families First or former Families First, and a reason for any disparity between the amount received and the amount disbursed to the custodial parent or caretaker that is related to the category;
- (E) The toll-free telephone number to call with questions about the unmet need amount for current Families First recipients;
- (F) The amount of child support received that was treated as current child support;
- (G) The amount of child support received that was treated as past due child support;
- (H) A message keyed to the appearance of a collection of child support arrears from a federal income tax refund offset involving the noncustodial parent;
- (I) The toll-free telephone numbers for both the IV-D child support and the IV-A Families First programs to facilitate inquiry for any questions or concerns; and
- (J) General explanatory information.
- (5) By April 1, 2002, child support payments sent to the custodial parent or other caretaker of the child by the central collection and disbursement unit shall include with each payment warrant, where available, the following information regarding the payment or payments:
- (A) The custodial parent's or other caretaker's name and TCSES member identification number;
- (B) The noncustodial parent's name;
- (C) The payment warrant number;
- (D) TCSES case identification number associated with each support payment included in the payment warrant;
- (E) Court name and docket number from which each support payment on the payment warrant originated;
- (F) The date on which the payment warrant was issued; and
- (G) The total of all payments issued to date during the current year.
- (6) The department may include any additional information on the notices or with the payments under this subsection (e) as it may determine necessary or helpful to the custodial parent or other caretaker of the child.
- (f) If, due to the fault of the department of human services fiscal services unit, a properly identified current payment of child support that has an order properly entered into TCSES is not disbursed within two (2) weeks of receipt of the payment by the department, the custodial parent may request, and the department shall promptly pay, an additional payment as provided for in this subsection (f). Such additional payment from the department shall be in an amount not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the amount actually paid toward current support that was delayed by the action of the fiscal services unit, or fifty dollars ($50.00), whichever is less. Such ten percent (10%) payment shall be derived from the department's budget without additional appropriation. Any cost incurred by the department to implement this subsection (f) shall be paid from the statutory fees paid to the department.
Acts 1998, ch. 1048, § 3; 2000, ch. 909, § 2; 2000, ch. 922, § 41; 2002, ch. 674, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10
cases, 2001–2014 · leading case: State of Tennessee, ex rel, Ashley Mitchell v. Patrick D. Armstrong (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004).
State of Tennessee, ex rel, Ashley Mitchell v. Patrick D. Armstrong (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). “” Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (a)(1) (2001 & Supp.”
Larry Butler v. Gwendolyn Butler (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002). “§ 6546 ; Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (a)(1) (2001).”
State of Tennessee ex rel. Wendy S. Rushing v. Christopher B. Spain (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (2005); State ex rel.”
Jacqueline Patterson v. Richard French (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). “-4- Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (a)(1). The language of the statute is mandatory, directing that all orders in Title IV-D cases “shall be deemed to require that the support be sent” to the State disbursement unit.”
State of Tennessee ex rel. Mary Lott v. Ernest Lott, III (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “-3- payment procedure contrary to the requirements of § 36-5-116, . . . whether or not approved by the court, shall be void and of no effect.”
State of Tennessee ex rel. Margaret Estelle Mitchell v. Ray Allen Lea State of Tennessee ex rel. Katherine A. Yarbrough v. William R. Johnson (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (a)(1) (2001 & Supp.”
State of Tennessee, ex rel., Connie Mitchell v. Percy Mitchell (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005). “all Title IV-D child or spousal support cases in which payment of child or spousal support is to be made by income assignment, or otherwise, and in all cases where payments made by income assignment based upon support orders entered on or after January 1, 1994, that are not…”
State of Tennessee, ex.rel. Vikki Davis v. John Davis (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003). “See Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (2002 & Supp. 2003) (establishing the Tennessee Department of Human Services as Tennessee’s central collection and disbursement unit, as required by federal statute, receiving the 5% processing fee).”
Michael Wallace Sherrod v. Tennessee Dep't of Human Serv. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “All order[s] in Title IV-D support cases, and all orders for income assignments which have directed support to be paid to the clerk of any court, and which are subject to the provisions of 42 U.”
In Re: Aaron E. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014). “The Juvenile Court admitted both documents into evidence under Tennessee Code Annotated section 24-7-121(a), which provides as follows: (a)(1)(A) The department of human services child support payment records shall be the official records for all payments which have been…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116(a)(1) — 3 cases
State of Tennessee ex rel. Mary Lott v. Ernest Lott, III (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “-3- payment procedure contrary to the requirements of § 36-5-116, . . . whether or not approved by the court, shall be void and of no effect.”
Larry Butler v. Gwendolyn Butler (Tenn. Ct. App. 2002). “§ 6546 ; Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-116 (a)(1) (2001).”
Michael Wallace Sherrod v. Tennessee Dep't of Human Serv. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2008). “All order[s] in Title IV-D support cases, and all orders for income assignments which have directed support to be paid to the clerk of any court, and which are subject to the provisions of 42 U.”
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