State to withhold hunting, fishing licenses from 'deadbeat' parents

SPRINGFIELD -- A $14,000 child support check was handed Rachel Miller because the father of her two sons likes to hunt white-tail deer.

The state refused to renew Michael DeBrito's hunting license as part of a new program. It gives deadbeat dads the option of making child-support payments immediately or giving up the right to hunt and fish.

Matching up hunting licenses against lists of parents behind on their payments is the state's newest way to chip away at the long-standing problem of child-support collection.

In the six months the program has been in effect, the state has collected nearly $130,000 from 90 parents.

DeBrito isn't happy about the turn of events. He says the way the state works now, they're in control of way too many things.