On Tuesday, July 7, Gov. Jay Nixon signed two bills into law that are likely to have major impacts on a large number of Missouri families and men with child support grievances.
Both were inspired by Fathers’ Support Center in St. Louis and sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis, who claimed them as significant legislative victories in the Republican-dominated state Legislature.
Senate Bill 140, which passed both the Missouri Senate and House unanimously, will allow courts that deal with criminal non-support cases to assign nonviolent defendants to educational, vocational, substance abuse treatment or work programs.
Defendants participating in the alternative sentencing program could have criminal penalties dismissed, reduced or modified if they successfully complete court-ordered treatment or training programs and make child support payments.
The law fits squarely with the ex-offender reentry mandate that governs the Missouri Department of Corrections, which has been hailed as a national model in returning nonviolent ex-offenders to the workforce.
“If we just lock them up, no one wins – they can’t pay child support from jail, and when they re-enter society, their record makes it tough to find a job,” Smith said.
“But if we can help them with vocational training and job training services, they’re far more likely to be able to fulfill their obligations.”
If it succeeds in practice, the new law will shift a burden from the overburdened criminal justice system to Fathering Court.
“Nearly 500 men have participated in Fathering Court since 1998, and the graduates have made nearly $3 million in child support payments,” Smith said.
“Clearly, this innovative program should be expanded, and we should eliminate the modern-day form of debtor’s prison.”
The other new law, Senate Bill 141, is designed to lift the burden of men who feel they are paying court-mandated financial support for children they did not sire.
The law requires that a man presumed to be the father of a child must be notified of any civil proceedings used to determine paternity, and informs him of his right to contest the assumption that he is the father and to request a genetic test to determine his paternity.
“There have been many cases where genetic testing proves a man is not the father of a child, but is ordered to continue making child support payments anyway,” Smith said.
“With this bill, if genetic testing proves you’re not the father, you no longer bear financial responsibility for the child.”
In 2008, the state Family Support Division reported 33,810 children were born out of wedlock in Missouri, accounting for approximately 40 percent of all births in the state. Of nearly 360,000 cases, seven percent required action to determine paternity.
With the new law, the court will be required to grant relief and set aside the previous judgment of paternity and child support if a genetic test disproves paternity. The court also must eliminate all remaining child support payments, wipe out any criminal non-support charges, and order the Department of Health and Senior Services to modify the child’s birth certificate.
The bill does not allow the man to be reimbursed for any child support payments made under a previous judgment.
Dominic Ledbetter, who participates in Father’s Rap at Father’s Support Center, said the passage of both pieces of legislation was “beautiful.”
Ledbetter said, “There is a guy in our group who is not actually the father, the DNA proves that, said he never touched the girl, but he is $21,00 in arrears and has spent $10,000 in attorney fees and he hasn’t gotten anywhere.”