Announcing a stepped-up war on deadbeat parents, Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe today unveiled a six-pronged approach to collecting delinquent child support payments.

"Parents who refuse to support their kids is unacceptable," Kolbe said at a press conference this morning.

The prosecutor's office is working with the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Office on a large sting operation in which charges will be filed on at least 30 people, Kolbe said. Normally a Class D felony, nonsupport will be upgraded to a Class C felony if the amount owed is $30,000 or more, he said.

Kolbe said the sting operation will be a lot of work for a number of law enforcement agencies, but "we think it will pay loads of dividends down the road."

His office also has completed income tax and lottery certification with state and federal governments, he said, which will allow the county to take delinquent child support out of an individual's income tax refund. It also will classify lottery winnings as earnings, "so if a person wins the lottery, we get first crack at them," he said.

Kolbe's office also is in the process of printing a "most wanted" list of deadbeat parents in the county. He said he hopes to be able to distribute posters to be posted throughout the county. "I can't imagine a business who would not post that," he said.

A new member, Beth Bugg, has been added to the prosecutor's staff to deal with child support enforcement. Bugg has approximately 20 years of experience in the field in Whitley and Grant counties, and will begin her duties the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Other actions his office will take include suspending the driver's license of anyone owing $2,500 or more, and increasing the visibility of newspaper ads that list the names of the most delinquent parents.

Kolbe said he was announcing the "war on deadbeat parents" in advance in the hopes that some people would bring their support up to date. He also said there will be no amnesty during this campaign.

"This is an occasion where we're going to be just plain ornery about it," he said.

He estimated that more than $10 million is owed in child support in Kosciusko County. "Far too many (single parents and children) are on the public rolls because somebody is sitting out there on their thumbs doing nothing," he said. "It's inexcusable."

The prosecutor's office also is planning a new offensive on people who pick marijuana that grows wild around the county, Kolbe said today. Plans include billboards featuring a man looking through the bars of his cell, with the words: "Marijuana pickers - you won't like our joint."

He said wild marijuana previously has not been discussed because authorities didn't want to call attention to the large amounts. However, he plans to use the billboards and roadside signs that warn of area surveillance to keep people away.

"My emphasis is to deter pickers as much as to catch them," he said.

Most of the "crop" is concentrated in one area of the county, Kolbe said, and in that area is an undercover network of private citizens who are capable of night observation as well.

The network has been in existence for 20 to 30 years, he said, and its presence deters other crimes in the area. [[In-content Ad]]