Child-support office reports 5,400 active cases; prosecutors warn system outages hamper charging

Acting Child Support Director Sophia Geisinger Regis told the finance committee on May 7 that the child-support program has about 5,400 active cases as of May 4 and that enforcement officers and paralegals are carrying extraordinarily high caseloads.

"For our enforcement officers as well as paralegals, the caseload is around 1,100 cases each," Geisinger Regis said. She described a unit operating with one referee in court and shared solicitors support, and told senators the budget request covers enforcement officers and support staff needed to process cases more quickly.

Senators and AG office witnesses also discussed federal-match mechanics: the federal share for child support administration is 66 percent in testimony, and the office reported FY2026 federal-match receipts and FY2027 projections (discussed by Acting Controller Dulce Paladok) that increase available federal funds for child-support activities.

Parallel testimony from prosecutors emphasized operational effects of repeated outages to the Guam Police Department's records system (LERMS). Chief Prosecutor Curtis Vandevelde and Deputy Neil Bonavita said LERMS outages forced staff to use handwritten reports and direct officer calls to obtain evidence and lab results, delaying charging decisions, magistrate proceedings and discovery obligations to defense counsel.

"When LERMS is down, it also continues to impact our ability to manage the discovery that we're obligated to provide to the defense in these cases as well," a deputy prosecutor testified. Senators said they would consider IT stability and staffing when reviewing budgets.

No votes were taken at the hearing; the committee will consider the child-support funding and its staffing implications as part of the FY2027 budget process.