ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt , his attorney said Tuesday . Frank Hatley was ordered to make back payments even after he learned a teenager was n't his son . Frank Hatley , 50 , spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month . A judge ordered him jailed in June 2008 for failing to support his `` son '' -- a child who DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley . Last week , Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins signed an order stating , `` defendant is no longer responsible for paying any amount of child support . '' The order permits the state 's Office of Child Support Services to close its file on Hatley . `` We 're satisfied with the result for Mr. Hatley , but still troubled by the state 's monumental lapse of judgment in this case , '' attorney Sarah Geraghty with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights told CNN in a written statement . Hatley did not immediately return a call from CNN Tuesday . His story dates back to 1986 , when Hatley had a relationship with Essie Lee Morrison , who gave birth to a son . According to court documents , Morrison told Hatley the child was his , but the two ended their relationship shortly after the child was born . The couple never married and never lived together , the documents said . When the child turned 2 , Morrison applied for public support for the child . Under Georgia law , the state , can recoup the cost of the assistance from a child 's non-custodial parent . For 13 years , Hatley made payments to the state until learning in 2000 that the boy might not be his . A DNA test that year confirmed the child was not fathered by Hatley , court documents said . He returned to court and was relieved of any future child support payments , but was ordered to pay more than $ 16,000 he owed the state before the ruling . Since 2000 , Hatley paid that debt down to about $ 10,000 , Geraghty said . Court documents showed he was jailed for six months in 2006 for falling behind on payments during a period of unemployment , but afterward he resumed making payments , continuing to do so even after he lost another job and became homeless in 2008 . But last year he became unable to make the payments and was jailed . The argument for keeping Hatley liable for the back payments , according to the attorney who represented him in 2000 , was that he signed a consent agreement with the Office of Child Support Services . The court agreed that Hatley had to comply with the consent agreement for the period he believed the child was his son , said attorney Latesha Bradley . But many , including Cook County Sheriff Johnny Daughtrey , did n't think Hatley 's incarceration was fair , given that the child was not his . `` I knew the gentleman 's plight and did n't know how to help him , '' Daughtrey told CNN last month . When the Southern Center for Human Rights visited the jail earlier this year , Daughtrey told them about Hatley 's case . Hatley was released from jail last month after Perkins ruled he was indigent and should not be jailed for failing to make the payments . The Georgia Department of Human Services , which includes the Office of Child Support Services , plans to propose legislation in the next session of the state Legislature that would prevent similar situations in the future , said agency spokeswoman Dena Smith . Two things still remain to be cleared up for Hatley , Geraghty said -- lifting the child-support holds on his driver 's license and his income tax . It remains unclear whether he will be reimbursed for the $ 6,000 in payments he made since 2000 , she said -- so far , he has not been . Cook County , Georgia , is in the south-central part of the state , about 200 miles south of Atlanta .