§48-18-206. Family court action on petition and proposed order prepared by Bureau for Child Support Enforcement.

(a) Upon receipt of petition for modification and proposed order prepared by the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement in accordance with the provisions of this article, the circuit clerk shall serve a copy of the petition and the proposed order upon all parties to the proceeding by personal service or by United States certified mail, return receipt requested, and direct the parties to file any objections to the proposed modified child support order within twenty days of the date of receiving such notice.

(b) Within five days of the filing of a petition for modification and proposed order, the circuit clerk shall notify the family court.

(c) If no party files timely objection to the proposed order or timely requests a hearing on the petition after receiving such notice, then the family court shall proceed to review the petition and proposed order sua sponte, and shall issue the proposed order. If the family court receives no objection, but the family court concludes that the proposed order should not be entered or should be changed, it shall set the matter for hearing.

(d) If the family court receives an objection to the petition or proposed order, the family court shall set a date and time for hearing.

(e) At any hearing on the proposed order, the family court shall treat the proposed order as a motion for modification made by the party requesting the bureau to initiate the modification. The actions of the family court at a hearing shall be de novo and shall not be an appeal from the bureau's recommended order. The family court shall notify the parties of the hearing and of the parties' rights and the procedures to be followed.

(f) The fees to be assessed for filing and service of the petition and the disbursement of the fee for petitions filed pursuant to this section shall be the same as the fee charged by the clerk for petitioning for an expedited modification of a child support order, as set forth in section eleven, article one, chapter fifty-nine of this code.