LANSING – The Macomb County Friend of the Court is taking steps to keep deadbeat parents who aren’t making child support payments out of the woods and off the lakes by revoking hunting and fishing licenses issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The Friend of the Court office will get a list of people who have applied for hunting or fishing licenses from the DNR and see which of them have failed to make regular child support payments, said Director Lynn Davidson.

The office will then contact a delinquent parent by letter, giving him or her a chance to pay. If the parent doesn’t pay, the county will seek a court order to suspend or revoke the license.

“Those parties that are paying, and are paying on a regular basis, have no reason to worry,” said Davidson. “All we want is to try and get the child support to the families that need it.”

The state has authorized the process since 1996 as part of the same law that allows Friend of the Court to suspend driver’s licenses. Wayne and Oakland counties are among those already using the program.

“This program is extremely timely since deer hunting season is upon us, so there is kind of a focus on it right now” said Suzanne Hollyer, director of Oakland County Friend of the Court.

Bow hunting season for deer began Oct. 1 and will run until firearms season begins Nov. 15.

“Most of our payers just pay, but everyone is motivated in different ways. There are some who just need some encouragement to pay,” said Hollyer. “This is a very manual, labor intensive process, but we think it’s worth the time to get the money to those families who need it.”

Macomb County Friend of the Court hadn’t implemented the program until now because of other priorities and concerns, she said.

Of the 40,000 child-support payers in Macomb, about 8,900 hold sporting licenses of some type. Only about 10 to 20 percent of them will be targeted by the new program, said Davidson.