Media

Deputies Partner With Juvenile Court To Resolve Child Support Cases

Release Date: March 24, 2006

Thousands of people wanted for not paying child support will wake up this Sunday morning (March 26) to see their names appearing in The Commercial Appeal newspaper.  The ad asks those wanted to contact Shelby County Juvenile Court to get their cases resolved or face being arrested.

Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Division talked recently with Shelby County Juvenile Court officials about a way to solve the huge backlog of approximately 9,000 outstanding child support warrants.  

“Child support is the largest category of warrants our Fugitive Division is responsible for.  This initiative will not only help clear many of these cases but will save taxpayers’ money,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

Those in the Child Support Division of Shelby County Juvenile Court say the newspaper ad listing many of the names of those wanted on outstanding charges will send a clear message.

“Individuals with outstanding warrants need to contact our office immediately to make payment arrangements to resolve this matter before they are arrested.  Our primary goal is to help families receive long overdue child support,” said Mitch Morgan, Director of Child Support for Shelby County Juvenile Court.

Wanted persons should call Shelby County Juvenile Court next week to discuss their case.  The number is (901) 405-8424 and will be answered between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.  

In anticipation of the expected increase in calls to the Shelby County Juvenile Court Customer Service Unit, special procedures have been established to ensure the expedited handling of the calls.

In the coming days, Deputies from the Fugitive, Reserve and other Sheriff’s Office bureaus will fan out across Shelby County to arrest those who do not call Juvenile Court to get their child support cases resolved.