Federal law requires that every state have a system for administering and collecting child support.  Kentucky, as well as most other states, uses a program that incorporates a child support office in each county. The Kenton County Child Support office provides a wide range of services including:

        (a) Establishing paternity if the parents are not married.

        (b) Establishing court orders which set child support amounts.

        (c) Obtain court orders which modify child support amounts.

        (d) Use any legal means to collect child support and enforce court orders if support is not being paid.

              The Kenton County Child Support Office currently has over 10,000 open child support cases, making it the third largest and most active county in the Commonwealth behind only Jefferson and Fayette.  The Kenton County office receives over 1,500 phone calls weekly.  In addition, they conduct more than 180 client appointments as well as taking court cases in excess of 250 each month.  

              A child support case can be initiated by calling or coming into the office to complete an application for services.  A photo ID and copies of any existing Court Orders will be required.  If there is not an existing Order for support, a case will be filed with the Kenton County Family Court to set a support amount if the parents were married to each other when the child was born, or in cases where the parents were not married at the time of birth, a DNA test will be administered to establish legal paternity, with each party paying one-half of the cost.

              Once a Court Order is established requiring a parent to pay child support, the Child Support Office will take steps to collect the payments by sending a Wage Withholding Order to the paying parent’s employer.  If payments are not made per the Order, there are a number of enforcement tools available including garnishment of bank accounts, attachment of retirement accounts, suspension of driver’s license, and other penalties including jail time through prosecution for civil contempt of court, misdemeanor non-payment, and felony non-payment.  In Kentucky, a parent convicted of felony non-payment can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.  While we take this final step, only as a last resort, we regularly prosecute parents for felony non-support.

              The Child Support Office is open to the general public and services are provided to all Kenton County residents regardless of income.  You can walk in and see a caseworker or you can make an appointment with an attorney.  The appointment date can take up to four weeks to get, because of the heavy demand for our services.  There are only two Family Court Judges in Kenton County, and thousands of cases needing to be heard, it takes approximately 90 days for a case to initially reach court after our office has filed the paper work.  However there are ways to help speed up the process by having important information with you when first contacting the Child Support office.   Knowing the address, phone number and place of employment for the parent ordered to pay child support can save a great deal of time.

              It is important to understand that the attorneys at the Child Support office do not provide legal representation to the parent or guardian as a private attorney would, but rather administers the laws of Kentucky to see that support is set and paid according to Kentucky Law.  All of these services are provided by the state so there is no cost or fee to the public. 

              Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson and his staff are very proud of the program they have established and their track record. This year at the Kentucky State Child Support Conference, Deborah Tweddell of the Kenton County Office was awarded “Child Support Employee of the Year” by the Kentucky Cabinet for Families & Children.  Participants at the conference agreed that she was the perfect choice and certainly deserved the award and recognition for her years of hard work.

              Running a successful program not only requires dedicated staff, but also adequate funding.  Kentucky, like most other states, is struggling financially.   The child support program is funded by both federal and state dollars, which is partially dependent on statewide performance. As the third largest county in the Commonwealth, the performance of the Kenton County Child Support Office helps insure Kentucky receives the maximum funding available. 

              One measure of success for a child support program is the amount collected on its cases and whether that amount is increasing.  In 1995, there was 7.9 million dollars collected through the Kenton County office while in 2008, over 20 million was collected – an increase of well over 100%.   

             An additional tool used to evaluate a county child support program is the Cost Benefit Ratio Report, issued by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which measures how efficiently each child support office is operated.  This report tells taxpayers how much “bang-for-the-buck” they are getting from each county office by comparing the amount of child support collected with the cost of running the office.  In the most recent report issued at the end of 2008, Kenton County is one of the top 10 most efficient child support offices in the state. This is important because the office strives to provide not only the highest quality of service, but to do so in a responsible and efficient manner.

              “The theme for the County Attorney’s Office has always been “Here To Serve”.  That has never been more true than in the role of collecting child support.  It is the moral and legal obligation of parents to financially support their children.  We will do everything possible to see to it that parents assume this responsibility,” says Kenton County Attorney, Garry Edmondson.