§ 19-11-102.Designated tribunals; support enforcement agency
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 1. General Provisions · Last amended 2013 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-102
Plain-English Summary
Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, a “tribunal” is any court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or determine parentage, as § 19-11-101 defines it. This section names Georgia’s three. Under subsection (a), the superior courts, the Office of State Administrative Hearings and the Department of Human Services are the tribunals of Georgia for purposes of the article. So an interstate support matter in Georgia may be handled by a judge, an administrative law judge or the department, depending on the proceeding.
Subsection (b) makes the Department of Human Services the support enforcement agency of Georgia. That role carries specific duties in § 19-11-126. On request, the agency must provide services to a petitioner. When it does, it must take steps to obtain jurisdiction over the respondent, ask a tribunal to set a hearing, make a reasonable effort to gather information on income and property, forward notices and communications within five days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays), and tell the petitioner if jurisdiction can’t be obtained.
The department also wears a third hat: § 19-11-129 makes it Georgia’s state information agency, which keeps the list of tribunals and forwards incoming interstate documents. The section was last amended in 2013.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Georgia courts handle interstate child support cases?
Under UIFSA, Georgia has three tribunals: the superior courts, the Office of State Administrative Hearings and the Department of Human Services. Any of them may act as a tribunal for purposes of the article, depending on the proceeding. Section 19-11-101 defines a tribunal as a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity with that authority.
What is Georgia’s child support enforcement agency under UIFSA?
Will the Department of Human Services act as my lawyer in an interstate support case?
No. Section 19-11-126(f) says the article doesn’t create an attorney-client or other fiduciary relationship between a support enforcement agency, or the agency’s attorney, and the person the agency is assisting. The agency provides services, but it doesn’t represent you as your own lawyer would.
Can an administrative law judge decide my interstate child support case?
It can happen. The Office of State Administrative Hearings is one of Georgia’s three tribunals under this section, alongside the superior courts and the Department of Human Services. Which tribunal handles a particular matter depends on the proceeding. The office is an administrative body, but the article treats it as a tribunal.
What does the support enforcement agency have to do for me?
Under § 19-11-126, once providing services it must take steps to obtain jurisdiction over the respondent, request a hearing, make a reasonable effort to obtain information on income and property, forward notices and communications within five days excluding weekends and legal holidays, and notify you if jurisdiction over the respondent can’t be obtained.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 33; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-2, eff. July 1, 2009; Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013.