AGO 1993-037.

• Case Date: November 16, 1993
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-037. November 16, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-037The Honorable John F. Holcomb Butler County Prosecuting Attorney 216 Society Bank Building P.O. Box 515 Hamilton, Ohio 45012 Dear Prosecutor Holcomb: You have requested an opinion concerning the computation of interest on child support arrearages. Your questions pertain to R.C. 3113.219, which was enacted by Am. Sub. S.B. 10, 119th Gen. A. (1992) (eff. July 15, 1992). R.C. 3113.219(A) provides that, in certain circumstances, a court must assess interest on child support arrearages, and further provides that interest shall be computed at the rate specified in R.C. 1343.03.

R.C. 1343.03 Currently Provides for an Interest Rate of Ten Percent; R.C. 1343.03 Previously Provided for Interest Rates of Six and Eight Percent

R.C. 1343.03,(fn1) as currently in effect, provides for an interest rate of ten percent per annum. The existing version of R.C. 1343.03 became effective on July 5, 1982. See 1981-1982 Ohio Laws, Part I, 2034 (Am. Sub. H.B. 189, eff. July 5, 1982). As your letter notes, an earlier version of R.C. 1343.03, effective July 1, 1962, provided for an interest rate of six percent per annum. See 1961 Ohio Laws 13, 173 (Am. S.B. 5, eff. July 1, 1962). Your first question is whether a change in interest rates from six to eight percent, and a subsequent change from eight to ten percent, took place during the twenty years between 1962 and 1982. A review of Ohio statutes reveals that such a change did, in fact, occur. Am. H.B. 28, effective July 30, 1980, changed the interest rate in R.C. 1343.03 from six to eight percent per annum. See 1979-1980 Ohio Laws, Part I, 1466, 1467 (Am. H.B. 28, eff. July 30, 1980). The rate was changed to ten percent by Am. Sub. H.B. 189, effective July 5, 1982, as noted above.

R.C. 3113.219 Does Not Clearly Describe How Interest Should Be Calculated

Your second question asks how the court should calculate the interest that it is required by R.C. 3113.219(A) to assess.(fn2) You raise the following possibilities:

Should the court apply the present statutory rate of interest of 10% per annum to all arrearages or only to arrearages between July 5, 1982, and today, or should the court apply the statutory rate which was in effect at the time each portion of an arrearage was accumulated? In the unlikely event that it is necessary to assess interest on judgments taken before 1982, must the court apply the statutory rate which was in effect on the specific date of the judgment?

In order to respond to your question, it is necessary to examine the language of R.C. 3113.219(A), which reads:

On or after July 1, 1992, when a court issues or modifies a support order under Chapter 3115. or section 2151.23, 2151.231, 2151.36, 2151.49, 3105.18, 3105.21, 3109.05, 3111.13, 3113.04, or 3113.31 of the Revised Code or in any proceeding in which a court determines the amount of support to be paid pursuant to a support order, the court shall determine the date the obligor failed to pay the support required under the support order and the amount of support the obligor failed to pay. If the court determines the obligor has failed at any time to comply with a support

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