Kane County considers suing state for child support collection funds

The Kane County state's attorney's office more than doubled collection of unpaid child support over the last decade. The office, though, might be turning its attention to another deadbeat — the state of Illinois.

The county's 11-member child support division is funded with a combination of state and federal matching funds. The lack of a state budget, however, means the division hasn't received money from either source since July 1. The county closed its own budget book on 2015 with a $240,000 operating deficit for the division.

County officials say they will weigh the value of suing the state to get those funds released, as well as the money the division needs to operate in 2016.

State's Attorney Joe McMahon said the division receives about $800,000 in state and federal funding. In turn, his staff collected $25.8 million in unpaid child support last year. That money came through the processing of 7,270 child support cases, about 140 each week.

The number of dollars collected increased every year since 2009. The 2015 total is more than double what the division collected a decade ago.

“That's a pretty good use of taxpayer dollars,” McMahon said. “This money we collect goes to single parents that live here in Kane County that would otherwise not get that child support and be more dependent on other social safety net programs.”

The division can't operate at a deficit forever, McMahon said. At some point soon, taxpayers may be put on the hook for the missing state/federal funds. McMahon said he may ask for a loan from the county's contingency or general fund to keep child support enforcement running.

If the division closed, the duties would fall to the Illinois attorney general's office. McMahon doesn't want that to happen, he said.

“We can do it more efficiently,” McMahon said. “We are here locally, and we are more effective at doing this for the residents of our own county.”

With a loan from the county being only a temporary solution, McMahon said he will sit with county board members to discuss litigation against the state.

If the county goes that route, McMahon said he'll reach out to other metro suburban counties that face the same problem to join the legal battle.

There is precedent. McMahon said downstate counties had success in suing the state for payment of salary reimbursement for public defenders, state's attorneys and supervisors of assessment.