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CRIMINAL
NON-SUPPORT
In
January 2001, the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office
embarked on an extremely aggressive approach for the
enforcement of child support orders by utilizing Ohio
Revised Code section 2919.21 as the ultimate child
support enforcement tool. Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh
dramatically strengthened the existing Criminal
Non-Support (CNS) Unit with the appointment of two
full-time prosecutors. These two prosecutors are
responsible for the prosecution of all the Summit County
Child Support Enforcement Agency’s (CSEA) criminal
non-support cases throughout all phases of the criminal
justice process.
The Criminal Non-Support Unit is responsible for
enforcing ORC section 2919.21(A)(2) and (B). According
to this section, it is a criminal offense to either
“fail to provide adequate support to [one’s] child who
is under age eighteen, or a mentally or physically
handicapped child who is under age twenty-one,” or to
“fail to provide support as established by a court order
to another person whom, by court order or decree, the
person is legally obligated to support”. Under this
law, failure to provide support “for a total accumulated
period of twenty-six weeks out of one hundred four
consecutive weeks, whether or not the twenty-six weeks
were consecutive...is a felony of the fifth degree.”
The CNS Unit indicts parents not paying support as a
last resort based on the following criteria:
·
There
must be an active application for child support services
on file;
·
CSEA
must exhaust all other enforcement tools (advance notice
of default, income withholding, lien, driver’s license
suspension, tax offset, bank account attachment and
contempt of court citation) unless special circumstances
exist;
·
The
Absent Parent has not paid for 26 weeks or more within a
104 week period;
·
The
Custodial Parent must complete a Criminal Non-Support
Questionnaire;
·
The
Absent Parent has a legal obligation to support the
child;
·
Past
due child support totals $5,000 or more, unless special
circumstances exist.
The CNS Unit has a legal research analyst, two caseworkers
and a victim’s advocate who assist the prosecutors in
identifying and preparing non-support cases for criminal
prosecution, monitor payments of individuals on
probation for criminal non-support and assist victims in
understanding the legal process. Additionally, the CNS
Unit has two full-time investigators who assist
prosecutors in trial preparation and the arrest of
individuals with outstanding felony warrants for
criminal non-support.
The results of Prosecutor Walsh’s aggressive approach to
the indictment and apprehension of Absent Parents who do
not pay their child support has led to the indictment of
over 2,900 individuals and the collection of over $20
million since 2001. The aggressive prosecution of
parents not paying support has also increased the
likelihood that an Absent Parent will begin paying to
avoid a felony indictment for criminal non-support and
to avoid going to jail or possibly prison. |
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