Officials pursuing old fines

Sheriff planning to publish names

The Lawrence County sheriff's office and the district court plan to soon post the names of people with unpaid court fines on Facebook pages and in the Walnut Ridge newspaper to collect more than $3 million.

It's an effort to "shame" those people into clearing the old debts -- some that are more than 10 years old -- and to provide municipalities with much-needed revenue, said Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Yates.

"We've got file cabinets full of warrants that we're trying to go through," Yates said. "We're allowing people to come in and pay them. You don't have to go to jail."

Some of the unpaid fines date to before 2007, when the county began listing warrants by computer, he said.

By mid-March, officials plan to begin publishing the names on the sheriff's office Facebook page and in The Times Dispatch, a weekly newspaper in Walnut Ridge. Because of the high number of offenders, it may take several weeks to publish every name, the sheriff said.

Walnut Ridge, the largest city in Lawrence County, has 409 old fines on the books that total more than $400,000, said Mayor Charles Snapp.

This month the Walnut Ridge City Council voted to increase monthly trash collection fees from $7 to $12 per account because of a $70,000 shortfall in the sanitation department budget. The last increase before that was more than 10 years ago, Snapp said.

"If we had some of that $400,000 owed to us in fines, we wouldn't have had to increase garbage fees," Snapp said. "This may shame some people into paying it, but in government, one size fits all. If you owe it, pay it."

Yates said he spoke with Lawrence County District Judge Adam Weeks about six months ago about the unpaid fines. At first, Weeks suggested withholding tax returns for those who owe the fines but decided that couldn't be done.

"We thought that some people may have gotten tickets in the past and thought they had taken care of it," Yates said. "We're giving them the opportunity now to fix it."

In some cases, offenders can ask Weeks for amnesty and may be given public service to work off court fines and to get their driver's licenses returned if they are suspended, the sheriff said.

"We're hoping people take advantage of this," Yates said. "It will help us keep our warrants manageable, and it will bring in more money."

Snapp said he likes the idea because in addition to the extra revenue, it gives people "second chances to be productive."

"Some who have had fines for a long while have been under the radar," Snapp said. "They can't work because they are afraid of being found out.

"This is not just a money grab. It's getting people back where they can be productive."

Already, several people have paid fines before their names are published, said Jennifer Perkins, a deputy clerk at the Lawrence County District Court.

"We have had them coming in each day," she said. "They ask about the program, and they've come in to pay. It's a good way to clean up the warrant books."

Yates said he expects to begin posting offenders' names on the sheriff's office Facebook page by March 15. The Walnut Ridge Police Department will do the same, and the newspaper will begin publishing names during that week as well.

"We're saying, 'Hey, you have business out there that needs to be taken care of,'" Yates said. "Now is the time to do it."

NW News on 02/29/2016

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