Tennessee to Revoke Hunting, Fishing Licenses of Deadbeat Parents

[GoodOlBoy]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state is warning parents delinquent on child support payments that they risk losing drivers licenses, professional licenses and hunting and fishing licenses if they don't pay.

A news release from the Department of Human Services Tuesday says letters are being delivered to parents across the state behind at least $500 and haven't made a payment in more than 90 days.

More than 7,000 licenses were revoked last year for failure to pay, and there are more than 20,000 licenses currently at risk. Professional licenses that could be revoked include those of registered nurses, real estate agents, security guards and teachers.

Parents can prevent revocation if they contact their local child support offices to set up payment plans or simply repay the past due amounts.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424142,00.html

[fabsroman]

Good for them. However, usually the driver's license of these people is also revoked. If revoking a driver's license isn't going to get somebody to pay child support, I seriously doubt revoking their hunting privilege will do so. How many of these people, who are already in contempt of Court for not paying child support under a Court Order, will really stop hunting just because they cannot get a hunting license? I honestly think politicians have a hard time seeing reality.

[Mil Dot]

Over $5000 they pull their passport as well. They can also get income tax returns, lottery winnings and proceeds from inheritance. Never thought I'd hope the ex would win lotto, but it does double my chances! No I haven't seen Ed McMahon or Donald Trump either.

[fabsroman]

You really wouldn't want to see Ed McMahon because he is broke. In fact, the mortgage company was going to foreclose on his property and Donald Trump bought it from him and gave him a life estate in the property (i.e., Ed can live there until he dies). That was pretty nice of Donald Trump, and a bone head maneuver by Ed to go broke.

[Mil Dot]

That's the reference, Ed's face just popped up on my comcast front page ... something about elder abuse ... I'll have to read further, hopefully it wasn't the Donald!

[DON WALKUP]

the state of arizona has been doing that for a while now, too.

i guess they feel that if a 'dead beat' parent won't pay support, they should not have the prevlidge of havinga hunting license.

the state of kaliphornia does similar things, too; if you owe back taxes, utility bills, drivers licensce fees, traffic citations, etc they will deduct them from your state income tax refunds (if you have any coming)

IMO, we, the voters, have allowed states to get out of control. now they do damned well what they wish. that, too, incidently, is one of the reasons we're where we're at now in this national crisis; we let the states and washington d.c. to get out of control.

[mrmiskin]

Poor Ed every time I see him on T.V. with his wife she has that look on her face like " So what was the prenup for"? I dont know what his circumstances were for him to lose his money but I did see him get tossed out of a really nice restaurant in N.C. about 40 years ago.

[Adam Helmer]

GOB,

Good thread! I am glad you said "deadbeat parents" rather than the old cliche "deadbeat dads." In the 1990s I was a single parent with my son living with me. His mother, a chemist making more money than me, was ordered to pay child support. She stopped paying the weekly checks so I reported her to the proper state agency. The female agent tried to pass it off as mere forgetfulness. I called the governor's office and talked with a guy I knew there-the governor.

That same afternoon the deadbeat mom was given the choice to pay up or be arrested. She paid up. Men make up about 5% of the single parents who collect child support. In NH a person one month in arrears on child support gets arrested. My ex can verify that fact. Why deny hunting licenses, use the handcuffs instead to enforce child support payment obligations. If the states made a few more arrests, the word would get out.

Adam

[Valigator]

Originally posted by Adam Helmer
GOB,

Good thread! I am glad you said "deadbeat parents" rather than the old cliche "deadbeat dads." In the 1990s I was a single parent with my son living with me. His mother, a chemist making more money than me, was ordered to pay child support. She stopped paying the weekly checks so I reported her to the proper state agency. The female agent tried to pass it off as mere forgetfulness. I called the governor's office and talked with a guy I knew there-the governor.

That same afternoon the deadbeat mom was given the choice to pay up or be arrested. She paid up. Men make up about 5% of the single parents who collect child support. In NH a person one month in arrears on child support gets arrested. My ex can verify that fact. Why deny hunting licenses, use the handcuffs instead to enforce child support payment obligations. If the states made a few more arrests, the word would get out.

Adam

Try and tell me where the logic is in this? When the county started cutting their budgets, one of the first departments they cut was child support enforcement.....not their secretaries or aids or expense account...child support enforcement...I knew we were lost when that happened..

[skeeter@ccia.com]

AH, I am also glad to see the 'parents' instead of 'dad'...here in my local, my brother move back home from Virginia. His wife was ordered to pay him $5. each for his 2 sons. 5 bucks isn't much and he got not a dime...so after a few years down the road and things got hard around here like all the steel mills closing etc etc, he figured they could use the back money owed...so went to the local office of child support ( woman run) and filed for owed payments.... he was to dig out his past few years of income tax pmts, etc etc ....reason was.....'he' might owe her money....they also said they not know how to contact her..he told them her driver license was due so find out the address from that...they told him it was against her constitutinal rights to have her privacy invaded by looking up her driver license address for child support reasons......story/....she never did have to pay....things went down hill quick for him..job loss, health reasons and that with booze/drugs etc..life in general got away from him....ended up shooting himself.....but the woman never did have to pay....big splash in news paper....' dead beat dads hunted down in Beaver County'....

[Adam Helmer]

Valigator,

I hear you: if the child support laws are NOT enforced, then I guess there can, and WILL BE, 20,000 deadbeats in Tennessee. It is a simple matter to arrest deadbeats one-by-one at their place of employment. After all, these folks have been through "The System" and their DOB, SSN and places of residence and employment are KNOWN to the Court. It would be as easy to arrest them ALL as it would be to pick up apples from under my backyard apple tree.

Sending out 20,000 letters to deadbeats is a no-brainer. Why not just go give them EACH a set of matching handcuffs? I dunno, I just dunno.

Adam