WINFIELD, W.Va. -- A Putnam County woman has sued the state Department of Health and Human Resources for more than $15,000 in unpaid child support she allegedly lost because DHHR did not file her claim in a timely manner.

Carmel L. Johnson filed the lawsuit in Putnam Circuit Court on Thursday.

She alleges the state Bureau for Child Support Enforcement failed to address her claim for child support before the 10-year statute of limitations expired on her case.

Johnson and her ex-husband, Lon Robert Davis, divorced in April 1989, the suit states.

Davis was ordered by a Putnam County judge to pay child support from Aug. 19, 1997, to Aug. 19, 2007.

Davis had been paying $150 a month to Johnson until he filed for bankruptcy in August 2006. He named Johnson and the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement as creditors, but according to state law domestic support obligations are "non-dischargeable," the suit states.

The child support bureau scheduled a hearing on the matter for Aug. 16, 2007, but the hearing was postponed until Jan. 17, 2008 -- nearly six months after the statute of limitations expired on Johnson's claim.

Davis wants DHHR to reimburse her for $15,143 in unpaid child support, plus interest and attorneys fees.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com  or 304-348-5113.  

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- A Putnam County woman has sued the state Department of Health and Human Resources for more than $15,000 in unpaid child support she allegedly lost because DHHR did not file her claim in a timely manner.

Carmel L. Johnson filed the lawsuit in Putnam Circuit Court on Thursday.

She alleges the state Bureau for Child Support Enforcement failed to address her claim for child support before the 10-year statute of limitations expired on her case.

Johnson and her ex-husband, Lon Robert Davis, divorced in April 1989, the suit states.

Davis was ordered by a Putnam County judge to pay child support from Aug. 19, 1997, to Aug. 19, 2007.

Davis had been paying $150 a month to Johnson until he filed for bankruptcy in August 2006. He named Johnson and the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement as creditors, but according to state law domestic support obligations are "non-dischargeable," the suit states.

The child support bureau scheduled a hearing on the matter for Aug. 16, 2007, but the hearing was postponed until Jan. 17, 2008 -- nearly six months after the statute of limitations expired on Johnson's claim.

Davis wants DHHR to reimburse her for $15,143 in unpaid child support, plus interest and attorneys fees.

Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com  or 304-348-5113.