---
title: O.C.G.A. § 19-11-21. Payment of support to department.
collection: code
id: 19-11-21
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 19-11-21 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-11-21
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-11-21.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/19-11-21/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t18-t19-(v16)-2022-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=b0848ebd_0#page=1163
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: DOMESTIC RELATIONS / ENFORCEMENT OF DUTY OF SUPPORT / CHILD SUPPORT RECOVERY ACT
---

# O.C.G.A. § 19-11-21. Payment of support to department.

Payment of support pursuant to an administrative determination or a voluntary agreement shall be made to the department. In non-TANF cases, where the department deems it appropriate, it may authorize distribution of the actual payment by other individuals, agencies, or entities and utilize certification schedules reflecting such payments or distributions which the department requires, in accordance with the federal Social Security Act, as amended. Child support which is ordered by a court pursuant to a divorce decree or in any other proceeding in which the responsible parent is required to pay support for his or her child or children, whether the proceeding is civil or criminal, shall be paid by the responsible parent, the clerk of court, the juvenile probation officer, the community supervision officer, the child support receiver, or a similar official who is collecting support to the department upon the department’s certification that the child is a recipient of public assistance or upon the department’s certification that an application has been filed with the department for enforcement of support in accordance with the provisions of the federal Social Security Act.

## History

Ga. L. 1973, p. 192, § 16; Ga. L. 1976, p. 1537, § 14; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1207, §§ 3, 6; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1021, § 8; Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 5-44/HB 310.

## Cross References

Collection of support payments by child support receivers, T. 15, C. 15.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2015, p. 422, § 6-1/HB 310, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment by this Act shall apply to sentences entered on or after July 1, 2015.

## Law Reviews

For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 284 (1997).

For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 231 (2015).

## U.s. Code.

The federal Social Security Act, referred to in this Code section, is codified at 42 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.