JACKSON - Cape County Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep said he may oppose renewing the county's contract with the state for operating a child support enforcement unit if a portion of the revenue has to be paid toward a retirement fund for prosecutors.

The county, and most other counties in the state, have a contract to have a division in the prosecutors office to collect delinquent child support payments. It is known as the 4-D program.

"If 4-D is going to be a whipping boy for the state prosecutors slush fund, I can't go along with it," declared Huckstep.

Earlier this month, the county commission hired attorney Albert Lowes to investigate whether the county is required to pay $6,500 a year to help fund a prosecutors retirement plan passed by the Legislature in 1989.

Cape County has refused to pay into the fund, but recently a Jefferson City law firm was hired by the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services to collect about $20,000 it claims Cape County owes the fund since it was started.

Lowes will report back to the commission sometime this week. On Thursday, the commission will meet with Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle to discuss renewing the 4-D contract.

"The $64,000 question is if we keep 4-D does that lock us into the retirement fund?" asked Huckstep.

If it does, Huckstep said he will likely vote against renewing the contract because he opposes the prosecutor retirement fund. He pointed out that in Cape County and many other counties, prosecutors are covered by the LAGERS plan along with other elected officials and employees.

Huckstep noted that under LAGERS, all county employees have to be covered. That means if Cape County has to pay into the special retirement fund, taxpayers will be paying for two retirement funds for Swingle, he said. The commissioner added that the county already pays about $8,000 a year to LAGERS for the prosecutor.

"If he (Swingle) wants to contribute $6,500 of his own salary into the fund that's fine, but it should not come from tax dollars," said Huckstep.

Swingle said it would be a mistake for Cape County to drop 4-D and will urge the commission to renew the contract.

"It is a program that provides a service to the public and does not cost the county a penny," observed Swingle. "It would be a horrible mistake to drop it."

Swingle said unless the prosecutor's office continues the program, the state does not have a way of collecting delinquent child support efficiently.

Huckstep said he is not convinced no one will be there to collect delinquent child support if Cape County drops out.

Swingle advised the county commission in the fall of 1989 that it should not pay into the fund. He also wrote the director of the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services to indicate he did not want to participate in the fund.

However, in recent legislative sessions, the law has been revised that may make it mandatory for prosecutors to participate in the fund and for counties to contribute toward the fund.

Huckstep said that while he may vote against 4-D, he concedes that Associate Commissioners E.C. Younghouse and Leonard Sander may disagree with him.

The presiding commissioner added that he is looking forward to getting the matter resolved this week.

"We have not given him (Lowes) permission to go after anybody," said Huckstep. "We have asked him to give us his professional opinion on where we stand and just what are our options as a county government."