The Cass County Friend of the Court office will offer a unique opportunity later this month that will benefit both parents who have fallen far behind on child support payments, as well as the children themselves.

The court office will host its first-ever Amnesty Day from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Cass District Library in Cassopolis. During that time, individuals who have a bench warrant out for their arrest for failure to pay child support will have the opportunity to have the order recalled, provided they pay $500 or 7 percent of their arrearage, depending on which amount is greater.

The day is designed to encourage people who have fallen behind on payments to get back on track by eliminating the fear of arrest, said Rob Steinhoff, Cass County Deputy Friend of the Court. Since the Friend of the Court office is located inside the county courthouse, many individuals with warrants issued to them avoid stopping in to make payments due to fear of apprehension, he said.

“It is an interesting and innovative idea,” Steinhoff said. “It has been done before in other Michigan counties, but this is the first time we are trying it here in Cass.”

At any given time, between 150 to 200 parents in the county have outstanding warrants due to nonpayment of child support, meaning there is a lot of potential money that will go back to local children based on the success of the Amnesty Day event, Steinhoff said.

“Even if we only get a single person to participate we will consider that a success, because that is one kid who has gotten what is legally owed to him or her who was not being supported before,” he said.

Another objective of the event is to reestablish a connection between FOTC staff and these parents. While the cases are different from parent to parent, often bench warrants are only issued to individuals who fail to communicate to the court about why they have fallen behind on payment, due to changes to employment or other issues, Steinhoff said.

“We want to send a message that we are willing to work with every single noncustodial parent or child support payer, even if there is a warrant for his or her arrest,” he said.

The amnesty only applies to bench warrants related to child support payments. Other charges cannot be lifted through participating in the event, Steinhoff said.

Even people without outstanding warrants are encouraged to visit the library that day if they have any questions about the child support payment process, Steinhoff said.