§ 19-11-30.9.Information subject to disclosure; penalty
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 1. Child Support Recovery Act · Last amended 2009 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-30.9
Plain-English Summary
Under § 19-11-30.2, the Department of Human Services sends banks, credit unions and other financial institutions lists of parents who owe child support, and the institutions report back which of those people hold accounts. This section keeps that process quiet. A financial institution that furnishes a report or information under § 19-11-30.2 shall not tell a depositor or account holder that the person’s name was received from, or furnished to, the department. The section calls this an exception to Code Section 7-1-360, a banking statute in Title 7.
There is one thing a bank may say. It may tell its depositors and account holders, in general terms, that under the bank match system the department has authority to request certain identifying information on certain depositors or account holders. What it may not do is tip off a particular customer that his or her own name came up.
A financial institution that willfully violates the section shall pay the department the lesser of $1,000.00 or the amount on deposit or in the account of the person to whom the disclosure was made. The section also protects institutions that follow the rules: a financial institution incurs no obligation or liability to a depositor, account holder or anyone else for furnishing a report or information to the department under § 19-11-30.2, or for not telling a customer that the customer’s name was on the department’s list or in the institution’s report. A separate penalty in § 19-11-30.5 covers institutions that fail to comply with the reporting requirements after notice, or that willfully give false information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my bank tell me if the child support agency asks about my account in Georgia?
No. A financial institution that furnishes a report or information under the bank match law, § 19-11-30.2, shall not disclose to a depositor or account holder that the person’s name was received from or furnished to the department. The bank may tell customers generally that the department has authority under the bank match system to request identifying information on certain account holders, but not that a particular customer was named.
What happens if a bank tips off a customer about a child support bank match?
If a financial institution willfully violates this section, it shall pay the Department of Human Services the lesser of $1,000.00 or the amount on deposit or in the account of the person to whom the disclosure was made. The penalty applies to willful violations; the section doesn’t set one for accidental disclosures.
Can I sue my bank for giving my account information to child support enforcement?
Not for reports made under the bank match law. A financial institution incurs no obligation or liability to a depositor, account holder or any other person for furnishing a report or information to the department under § 19-11-30.2. It also has no liability for failing to tell you that your name appeared on the department’s list or in the institution’s report.
Can a bank tell customers that the bank match program exists?
Yes. The section expressly allows a financial institution to disclose to its depositors or account holders that, under the bank match system, the department has the authority to request certain identifying information on certain depositors or account holders. That general notice is allowed; telling a specific customer that his or her name was on the list is not.
How does this section relate to Georgia’s bank privacy law?
It describes itself as an exception to Code Section 7-1-360, which sits in Georgia’s banking title. Whatever that section otherwise allows or requires, a financial institution taking part in the child support bank match under § 19-11-30.2 must follow this section’s no-disclosure rule and gets its liability shield.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 30; Laws 2002, p. 1247, § 17; Laws 2009, Act 102, § 2-4, eff. July 1, 2009.