Kudos to Republican A.G. Mike Cox for tracking down all those deadbeats and making they pay up, even if they won’t stand up.

LANSING — Attorney General Mike Cox announced Monday he has collected $52 million in back child support since setting up a collections unit in 2003, benefiting 4,596 kids who are due an average of $11,000 each.Cox made the issue a central theme of his campaign when he ran for attorney general. Even with the effort, unpaid child support in divorces and for youngsters born to unmarried mothers is a $9 billion problem. Cox’s office says 610,000 cases still are in arrears.

A Detroit News investigation found that Michigan’s Friend of the Court system, set up to monitor child support, custody and other issues in divorce, was underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed by its huge caseload. Child support orders often go unenforced for years.

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