Thirty-nine Ohio counties are participating today in a round-up of parents who are delinquent in paying their court-ordered child support.

"Children depend on both of their parents and have a right to financial support," ODJFS Director Barbara Riley said. "Not paying your child support is illegal, unconscionable and immoral and in Ohio we will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that parents fulfill their obligations."

Today's round-up is the ninth to be held in cooperation with counties across the state. The eight previous round-ups from 1997 to 2004 resulted in a total of about 2,000 arrests statewide. The round-ups are conducted in a cooperative effort between ODJFS, county child support enforcement agencies and the Buckeye State Sheriff's Association.

Counties participating in today's round-up include: Allen, Ashland, Belmont, Butler, Clark, Cuyahoga, Defiance, Fairfield, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Henry, Huron, Lake, Licking, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Pickaway, Preble, Richland, Ross, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Warren, Wayne and Wood.

The maximum sentence in a criminal non-support case is 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. The number of persons arrested today is still being tallied.

Ohio collected about $2 billion in child support in state fiscal year 2005. There are more than one million child support cases in the state. Ohio has the third largest child support caseload in the nation, but ranks second in total collections and first in collections for non-public assistance cases.

For more information, contact ODJFS Communications, (614) 466-6650.