ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County's new prosecuting attorney promised to change things up. That is evident in a handful of new policies that Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell outlined, including this one: He is no longer criminally prosecuting those who fail to pay child support.
Bell has said the reasoning for this policy is that parents who are jailed, or who are forced to leave their job because of criminal charges, will have an even harder time providing support for their family. But critics say those parents who are not paying child support are getting off easy.
"I'm more concerned about children of lower income families, who need this to eat and need it to keep the electricity on," said Deana Shelton, a single mother who is concerned about the new policy. "Mothers and fathers that are getting support need it for the welfare and health of their children."
Family attorney Jonathan Marks explained that this one statement from the prosecuting attorney's office does not mean it's going to eliminate all of the other avenues for someone to collect, if they don't receive their deserved child support.
"Administratively, you still have the ability, if somebody is $2,500 or more in arrears, that the Family Support Division can suspend somebody driver's license or professional license, to encourage that person to have to pay that off and get current with their support payments," said Marks."The other aspect is, you still have the ability to go through your private attorney for purposes of a contempt action, and then you can file through circuit court in the same way that you did your original action to be able to try to get action through circuit court."
Marks told 5 On Your Side that there are still options through the civil courts. He also said that a long-term plan might dictate other options. For example, Marks explained Prosecuting Attorney Bell could decide to create a DWI court, a drug court, or a Child Support Court to handle cases, like proper payment of child support.
