Starting next month, it will be up to the Carroll County sheriff to try to collect some of the $2.8 million owed to the county's circuit court.
The Quorum Court passed an ordinance July 18 making Sheriff Bob Grudek responsible for collecting fines, fees and restitution for the 19th Judicial Circuit-East, which is comprised entirely of Carroll County.
Historically, collection of the fines and fees owed to the court -- and restitution owed to victims -- has been the circuit clerk's responsibility.
But Justice of the Peace Ron Flake said Circuit Clerk Ramona Wilson didn't aggressively pursue payment, and the court suffered financially as a result.
Wilson said Thursday that she didn't want to relinquish the duties but she will.
"I just want it to be done right, and I know I can do it right," she said. "They made the decision, and I will abide by that."
With millions of dollars in debt outstanding, a narrow majority of the Quorum Court members, voting 6-5, decided it was time for a change.
"Hopefully, this will work out for everybody and for the benefit of the county and the residents," said Flake. "It should be a win-win. I think a law enforcement branch can be much more effective at collecting these fines than a clerical branch."
Arkansas Code Annotated 16-13-709 (a)(1) (A)(i) allows the Quorum Court to designate a collector of debts owed to a circuit court.
Wilson, a Democrat, said the issue had become political. Flake and Grudek are both Republicans, she said.
Grudek had said he was willing to take over the collection responsibility but he was reluctant to do so because of Wilson's political accusations.
Circuit Judge Kent Crow implemented a plan to collect the fees in 2012. Crow said he got little cooperation from Wilson. Some of the debt dates back to 1992.
Crow said Wilson could have been more aggressive in sending letters to people who owe money or in taking measures to make them pay, such as suspending their driver's licenses.
Wilson said she has no law enforcement authority. Collection requires a judge to sign a warrant and the sheriff's office to make an arrest if necessary, she said.
Ronnie Baldwin, executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association, said collecting court-ordered fees and fines has always been a problem across the state. In the "large majority" of Arkansas counties, collection of the fines and fees is the responsibility of the sheriff, he said.
Keith Caviness, a staff attorney for the Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts, said the amount owed the circuit court in Carroll County probably isn't any more than in other counties, but no statewide records are kept on outstanding circuit court fines and fees.
Flake said part of the problem was Wilson's reluctance to automate the circuit clerk's records regarding fines and fees. Those records are still kept on paper ledgers, he said.
Grudek said Carroll County collects about $70,000 per year in criminal fines and fees. Next door in Boone County, the amount collected is about 10 times that, he said.
Metro on 07/26/2014