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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE
November 9, 1999 Session COUNTY OF SAN MATEO, CALIF. v. MURRAY GREEN, SR.
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lawrence County No. CC-48-96 Jim T. Hamilton, Judge

No. M1999-00112-COA-R3-CV - Filed February 14, 2001

Appellant appeals the enforcement of a 1983 California judgment for reimbursement for public assistance provided to his children through 1982. Because the judgment expired under the applicable statutes of limitation in both California and Tennessee before this enforcement action was brought, we find that Appellant had a vested right in that defense and reverse the trial court's judgment. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Circuit Court Reversed and Remanded PATRICIA J. COTTRELL , J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM C. KOCH , JR., J., and WILLIAM B. CAIN , J., joined. David Comer, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Murray Green, Sr. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Stuart Wilson-Patton, Assistant Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, County of San Mateo, Calif. OPINION The five children of Murray Green, Sr. ("Mr. Green") received public assistance in San Mateo County, California ("San Mateo") between 1977 and 1982. San Mateo sought reimbursement for that assistance from Mr. Green, resulting in a default judgment entered on January 24, 1983, by the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. That judgment provided, "defendant shall reimburse the County of San Mateo the sum of $21,931.20 for public assistance paid for the support of said children during the period from November 1, 1977 to and including March 31, 1982." Mr. Green, a Tennessee resident, does not contest the validity of the judgment at the time it was entered. He made some payments and by 1996 had reduced his obligation to $12,916.18. An "IRS Intercept"of $394 further reduced the obligation.

San Mateo, with assistance from the State of Tennessee, filed this action in April of 1998.1 Thus, San Mateo sought in 1998 to enforce the 1983 judgment for reimbursement for public assistance provided through 1982.2 Following a hearing, at which Mr. Green argued that San Mateo was time barred from enforcing the judgment, the court held that the judgment was enforceable under Tennessee law. The court ordered Mr. Green to pay $12,522.18, which represented the original judgment, minus payments already made. The order was stayed pending this appeal. A valid judgment from another state (a "foreign judgment") is entitled to full faith and credit in Tennessee's courts. See U.S. Const. art. IV,

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