§576D-18 Investigators. (a) The attorney general shall commission child support enforcement investigators who shall have all powers and authority of a police officer or a deputy sheriff to fulfill their official responsibilities; provided that a person so appointed and commissioned shall not carry firearms.
(b) The duties of the commissioned investigators shall be to locate absent parents for the establishment of paternity, and for obtaining and enforcing orders of support.
(c) The agency shall have access, including automated inquiry access, to the records of all entities in the State for information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual member, employee, or contractor of such entity, in order to accomplish the purposes of the child support program. The entities include, but are not limited to for-profit, nonprofit, and labor organizations, and any agency, board, commission, authority, court, or committee of the State or its political subdivisions, notwithstanding any provision for confidentiality. Subject to safeguards on privacy and confidentiality and subject to the nonliability of entities that afford access under this section, the agency shall also have access to records held by private entities with respect to individuals who owe or are owed support, or against or with respect to whom a support obligation is sought consisting of:
(1) The names and addresses of individuals and the names and addresses of the employers of such individuals as appearing in customer records of public utilities and cable television companies, pursuant to an administrative subpoena authorized pursuant to section 576E-2; and
(2) Information, including information on assets and liabilities, on such individuals held by financial institutions.
(d) Other state or territorial agencies administering a program under Title IV-D shall have access, including automated inquiry access, to the records of all entities in the State for information on the employment, compensation, and benefits of any individual employed by such entity as an employee or contractor, to the same extent and with the same restrictions as child support enforcement investigators pursuant to this chapter. Other federal, state, and territorial agencies conducting activities under the Title IV-D program shall have access to any system used by the state to locate an individual for purposes relating to motor vehicles or law enforcement. [L 1997, c 293, pt of §6; am L 1998, c 153, §7]