By the end of the week, the Washington State Attorney General’s office will be in charge of the state’s child support enforcement.
A year ago, the state attorney general’s office filed a petition to be allowed to start enforcing child support orders from the Polk County, Florida, court, a move that would allow law enforcement to take custody of children who are being financially support arrears.
The office says the new position will allow the office to begin enforcing the state law on child support, which was enacted in 2003.
The state law requires that children in the state receive a percentage of the total income of their parents and requires that they pay support payments for the first 30 days after the child’s birth.
Polk County has been among the worst offenders in the nation when it comes to child support arrenrages, according to a study by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Since 2004, the county has collected nearly $4.3 million in unpaid child support and a court order from Polk County Judge James B. Wigginton.
The county also has an outstanding $2.3 billion child support obligation, the report said.
The attorney general said in a statement that the office is seeking a court opinion on the issue.
The Polk County court has a history of child support collections and an overpayment problem, said attorney Lisa Smith, a spokeswoman for the state attorneys general office.
She said Polk County is working to increase the percentage of revenue from child support payments.
But that hasn’t been enough to satisfy the county, she said.
“The court has not been able to meet its obligation to make payments,” Smith said.
Smith said Polk has a plan to make the payments and said the county would pay more to the state when the issue is resolved.
“It is not uncommon for courts in Polk County to be the most overpaying in the country, which is why the state is moving to get it resolved,” Smith wrote in an email.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.