In November 2001, Hope McDaniel of Springdale was ordered to pay $58 a week in child support for her two children. For whatever reason, she allegedly failed to make any payments for four years; in 2007, she was arrested and charged with nonsupport and two counts of failure to appear.
Though McDaniel has been making her required payments since 2006, as of February she owed more than $14,000 for failing to make payments during those first four years, according to court records.
McDaniel’s attorney and the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office settled on a plea agreement that called for McDaniel to be placed on probation and serve some jail time. But that arrangement didn’t satisfy Circuit Judge Robin Green, who said that anyone convicted of owing more than $10,000 in child support should serve state prison (and not just county jail) time. McDaniel’s was the first such case to come before her.
Green reset McDaniel’s case for Jan. 4. McDaniel told the judge she probably would be able to pay enough by then to reduce the amount she owes under $10,000, in which case Green said she would not insist on prison time for her.
Long after McDaniel’s case is resolved, we’ll be debating the question of when prison time is appropriate for those found guilty of nonsupport.
True deadbeat parents deserve significant time behind bars. In 2007, for example, Benton County Circuit Judge David Clinger sentenced Andrew Tayrien to 20 years in prison for owing more than $50,000 in child support. That’s a ridiculous amount of money.
But there’s more to consider than simply the amount a person owes. We are told that McDaniel, for example, has been making payments for several years, even though she still owes quite a bit. At least she’s trying, which shows she’s no deadbeat. At the same time, it seems that the judge’s threat of prison has lit a fire under her to start paying down her debt sooner. That’s not a bad thing.
Yes, some people owing more than $10,000 deserve prison time, but so do some folks owing $5,000 or $6,000. Conversely, there are people like McDaniel who owe more than $10,000, but are trying to get their act together. Other defendants might struggle to make payments through no fault of their own — either because of an inability to find employment or an illness that keeps them out of work.
As a general rule, prison should be reserved for violent offenders. Only the worst of the worst nonsupport convicts should be delivered to the Department of Corrections. Arkansas prisons are crowded enough as it is.
In addition, locking up nonsupport convicts has the counterproductive effect of denying them the opportunity to make money so that they may be able to meet their payment obligations.
Each nonsupport case is unique; each defendant’s circumstances and history must be weighed carefully before a sentence is handed down. Prosecutors and defense teams routinely hash out deals that are fair to both sides and keep the wheels of justice turning. The amount owed — whether it be $1,000 or $10,000 — should not be the only factor in deciding who goes to prison or to jail.
The whole issue begs the question of how such large backlogs of payments are allowed to pile up. Other states have tougher laws to make sure child support payments don’t fall so far behind. We’ll be looking into those options. We encourage our legislative delegation to do the same.
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