Say, for instance, there is a warrant for a deadbeat dad issued by a Texas court. Obviously Texas is not going to actively search for him, particularly since he is out of state.

How would one - the affected ex-spouse - get that warrant enforced? If she knew the general location of the deadbeat, but not exact, would a call to that local sheriff suffice? Is there a private firm (bounty hunter?) that she could pay to get the deadbeat arrested?

The money owed is not an issue and no one cares if it is ever collected. The money spent to have justice served is not an issue either.

(No - this does not pertain to my fiancée or I - this was a discussion we were having over dinner the other night - hypothetical)

Even if the person did get arrested, who do you think will be paying the travel fees to get this person back to Court in Texas? Certainly not Texas for back child support.

This person would have to owe thousands upon thousands of dollars in back child support before anyone really pays attention to them or even cares.

You are asking specifically about Texas - I know of similar cases in NY. Either a licensed private investigator (or somewhat with similar sources) is given the info that is available and asked to find very specific information on the non-custodial parent, which info is then turned over to the local authorities by the Attorney for the custodial parent or a representative of the custodial's parent's Police Department OR the custodial parent takes that info to Court on a contempt motion, the motion is granted, the person is picked up. In my area law enforcement does not - as far as I know - accept warrant info from private parties. I know, doesn't make sense.

As Twinkie said - whether to extradite could be the problem.

This one caught my eye - I'm waiting for a contempt of court hearing on a judgment I was awarded. There's a bench warrant for the defendant because she didn't show up for a criminal traffic hearing. So either a)they don't serve her at all and my hearing gets cancelled, b)they serve her and somehow overlook that there's a warrant for her arrest or c)they serve her, arrest her and I end up not getting paid anyway. Awesome :)

You are asking specifically about Texas - I know of similar cases in NY. Either a licensed private investigator (or somewhat with similar sources) is given the info that is available and asked to find very specific information on the non-custodial parent, which info is then turned over to the local authorities by the Attorney for the custodial parent or a representative of the custodial's parent's Police Department OR the custodial parent takes that info to Court on a contempt motion, the motion is granted, the person is picked up. In my area law enforcement does not - as far as I know - accept warrant info from private parties. I know, doesn't make sense.

As Twinkie said - whether or not to extradite could be the problem.

Its really just a what if situation. The specific condition we were talking about was based on Texas, but we were really interested in a general rule of thumb.

Its really just a what if situation. The specific condition we were talking about was based on Texas, but we were really interested in a general rule of thumb.


Realise it's a "what if" and it's a good question. I would think a lot depends on how much is owed, what other trouble the person gets into, how badly State #2 wants to ship him/her back to State #1, whether the authorities in State #2 take it personally, a lot of factors.

Unbelievable isn't it I've got a warrant out on my ex who owes over 11000.00 in back support but that's as far as it goes no arrest or anything done. He's getting an inherritance I'll probably not see any of my back sopport which is not fare but some how he seems to always get away with it. My youngest is 22 how long do I have to wait. All back sopport should have to be paid especially if there is orders after orders from the courts

You have answered a thread that is almost a year old.

If yours is a question, it's piggybacked.

Either way the problem is that this takes time away from current questions and people who are waiting for answers.