Parents who are not making payments on court-ordered child support should pay up now or face arrest.

A one-week amnesty period will be given from May 27 until the close of business on June 3 to allow parents a chance to avoid arrest by paying their child support debts.

Any parent with an outstanding arrest warrant on a child support case is urged to come in to the Family Support Division of the King County Prosecutor’s Office and pay their child support debt, or ten percent of the bail amount on the arrest warrant, and schedule new court dates. The existing arrest warrant would then be quashed.

The King County Sheriff’s Office has a dedicated unit which executes civil contempt warrants year round; however, after the June 3 deadline, there will be a concentrated effort to make arrests in the most egregious cases.

Sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors will be targeting parents with years of child support debts where all attempts at administrative collection have been exhausted. In addition, the parent must have failed to appear in court on at least one occasion.

The Division of Child Support of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services is providing assistance in the effort. The state and county have chosen to pursue these cases aggressively to provide support to children and also reduce the financial burden on taxpayers.

To have an arrest warrant quashed, non-paying parents may come in to the Family Support Division of the King County Prosecutor’s Office, located on the 4th Floor of the King County Courthouse (room E-400), 516 third Avenue in Seattle. They can also make payments at the Kent office, located at 610 West Meeker Street, suite 203, in Kent. The telephone number for the Family Support Division in Seattle is (206) 296-9020, and in Kent, (206) 296-9579.

Dated: May 27, 2005