301.12 Cost of care and maintenance, liability; collection and deportation counsel; collections; court actions; recovery.

1,329 words·~6 min read·/wi/chapter-301/301-12-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(1)Liability and the collection and enforcement of such liability for the care, maintenance, services, and supplies specified in this section is governed exclusively by this section, except in cases of child support ordered by a court under s. 938.183

(4), 938.355

(b)4. or

(a), 938.357

(a), or 938.363

(2)or ch. 767 .

(2)Except as provided in subs.

(2m)and

(b)and

(c), any person, including a person placed under s. 938.183 , 938.32

(bm)or

(c), 938.34

(4h)or

(4m), or 938.357

(1),

(2m),

(4), or

(e), receiving care, maintenance, services, and supplies provided by any institution in this state operated or contracted for by the department, in which the state is chargeable with all or part of the person’s care, maintenance, services, and supplies, and the person’s property and estate, including the homestead, and the spouse of the person, and the spouse’s property and estate, including the homestead, and, in the case of a minor child, the parents of the person, and their property and estates, including their homestead, and, in the case of a foreign child described in s. 48.839

(1)who became dependent on public funds for his or her primary support before an order granting his or her adoption, the resident of this state appointed guardian of the child by a foreign court who brought the child into this state for the purpose of adoption, and his or her property and estate, including his or her homestead, shall be liable for the cost of the care, maintenance, services, and supplies in accordance with the fee schedule established by the department under s. 301.03

(18). If a spouse, widow, or minor, or an incapacitated person, may be lawfully dependent upon the property for his or her support, the court shall release all or such part of the property and estate from the charges that may be necessary to provide for that person. The department shall make every reasonable effort to notify the liable persons as soon as possible after the beginning of the maintenance, but the notice or the receipt of the notice is not a condition of liability.

(2m)The liability specified in sub.

(2)shall not apply to persons 17 and older receiving care, maintenance, services and supplies provided by prisons named in s. 302.01 .

(3)After investigation of the liable persons’ ability to pay, the department shall make collection from the person who in the opinion of the department under all of the circumstances is best able to pay, giving due regard to relationship and the present needs of the person or of the lawful dependents. However, the liability of relatives for maintenance shall be in the following order: first, the spouse of the resident; then, in the case of a minor, the parent or parents.

(a)If a person liable under sub.

(2)fails to make payment or enter into or comply with an agreement for payment, the department may bring an action to enforce the liability or may issue an order to compel payment of the liability. Any person aggrieved by an order issued by the department under this paragraph may appeal the order as a contested case under ch. 227 by filing with the department a request for a hearing within 30 days after the date of the order.

(b)If judgment is rendered in an action brought under par.

(a)for any balance that is 90 or more days past due, interest at the rate of 12 percent per year shall be computed by the clerk and added to the liable person’s costs. That interest shall begin on the date on which payment was due and shall end on the day before the date of any interest that is computed under s. 814.04

(4).

(c)If the department issues an order to compel payment under par.

(a), interest at the rate of 12 percent per year shall be computed by the department and added at the time of payment to the person’s liability. That interest shall begin on the date on which payment was due and shall end on the day before the date of final payment.

(5)If any person named in an order to compel payment issued under sub.

(a)fails to pay the department any amount due under the terms of the order and no contested case to review the order is pending and the time for filing for a contested case review has expired, the department may present a certified copy of the order to the circuit court for any county. The circuit court shall, without notice, render judgment in accordance with the order. A judgment rendered under this subsection shall have the same effect and shall be entered in the judgment and lien docket and may be enforced in the same manner as if the judgment had been rendered in an action tried and determined by the circuit court.

(6)The sworn statement of the collection and deportation counsel, or of the secretary, shall be evidence of the fee and of the care and services received by the resident.

(7)The department shall administer and enforce this section. The department shall appoint an attorney to be designated “collection and deportation counsel” and other necessary assistants. The department may delegate to the collection and deportation counsel such other powers and duties as the department considers advisable. The collection and deportation counsel or any of the assistants may administer oaths, take affidavits and testimony, examine public records, subpoena witnesses and the production of books, papers, records, and documents material to any matter of proceeding relating to payments for the cost of maintenance. The department shall encourage agreements or settlements with the liable person, having due regard to ability to pay and the present needs of lawful dependents.

(8)The department may do any of the following:

(a)Appear for the state in any collection and deportation matter arising in the several courts, and may commence suit in the name of the department to recover the cost of maintenance against the person liable for that cost.

(b)Determine whether any residents are subject to deportation; and on behalf of this state enter into reciprocal agreements with other states for deportation and importation of persons who are public charges, upon such terms as will protect the state’s interests and promote mutually amicable relations with other states.

(c)From time to time investigate the financial condition and needs of persons liable under sub.

(2), their ability to presently maintain themselves, the persons legally dependent upon them for support, the protection of the property and investments from which they derive their living and their care and protection, for the purpose of ascertaining the person’s ability to make payment in whole or in part.

(d)After due regard to the case and to a spouse and minor children who are lawfully dependent on the property for support, compromise or waive any portion of any claim of the state or county for which a person specified under sub.

(2)is liable, but not any claim payable by an insurer under s. 632.89

(2)or

(4m)or by any other 3rd party.

(e)Make an agreement with a person who is liable under sub.

(2), or who may be willing to assume the cost of maintenance of any resident, providing for the payment of such costs at a specified rate or amount.

(f)Make adjustment and settlement with the several counties for their proper share of all moneys collected.

(i)Pay quarterly from the appropriation account under s. 20.410

(gg)the collection moneys due county departments under ss. 46.215 , 46.22 and 46.23 . Payments shall be made as soon after the close of each quarter as is practicable.