Strip-search damages taken for child support

AUGUSTA – Nearly 300 people who were awarded damages in a class action lawsuit over strip searches in York County Jail ended up turning their settlements back to the state to pay child support and related debts.

Former prisoners who believed they were illegally strip-searched between 1996 and 2004 were awarded $3.3 million in a settlement. A federal appeals panel had approved class-action status in the case, and 1,350 people became class members.

The state Health and Human Services Department discovered that 284 plaintiffs owed child support, and working with the state Attorney General’s Office and U.S. District Court, liens were placed on their settlements.

The plaintiffs ended up turning over $463,000 to the state. Of the total, $240,000 went to the children’s families for back support, and the rest went to state and federal governments to help repay the cost of public assistance during the time support payments were not available, state officials said.

“When the court authorizes us to collect child support, we do anything we can to meet that obligation,” said Steve Hussey of the Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery. “It’s the children and the taxpayers we’re thinking of.”

Of the 284 class-action plaintiffs who owed back child support, 120 had not made a payment in more than a year, and a total of 20 cases were paid in full, officials said.

Last year, the department collected a total of $110 million in child support payments, with $80 million going directly to families. In cases in which noncustodial parents fail to make payments, the department takes steps that can include revocation of driver’s, professional and other licenses.

In the York County strip-search case, plaintiffs objected to a policy of making all prisoners, even those facing misdemeanor charges, disrobe. Jail officials said the searches were to uncover hidden weapons or other contraband.