By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor It is about to get more expensive to commit a crime in Warren County. The Warren County Commission Monday adopted an ordinance establishing a law enforcement restitution fund which will add extra court costs in felony and misdemeanor cases prosecuted in state court. The fund, proposed by Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Bartlett, was passed unanimously. The plan calls for the court to collect $300 from those convicted of a felony and $150 in misdemeanor cases. The funds that are collected will be overseen and managed by a five-member citizen board. Bartlett said she began looking for ways to bolster revenue for the sheriff’s department following a decline in sales tax revenue in recent years. The additional court fees will be tacked on to the current costs that are already assessed to criminals. “Those individuals who are soaking up so many of the resources, not only from the criminal justice system but from the sheriff’s department as well, will have to pay for those resources and help take the burden off the other individuals,” Bartlett explained. She later added, “They should pay for the resources they are utilizing.” The additional court courts will not be assessed on traffic cases involving speeding, careless and imprudent driving, violations of a traffic control or sign, or any charge which is a Class C misdemeanor or an infraction. The ordinance will go into effect after the citizen board is formed and organized. The board will be comprised of two members appointed by the presiding commissioner, two appointed by the sheriff and one appointed by the county coroner. Board members cannot be current or former elected officials, current or former employees of the sheriff’s department, the prosecutor’s office, county commission office or county treasurer’s office. The board, expected to be meet only a couple of times a year, will disperse the funds following requests from the sheriff or prosecutor. The board will have the ability to approve or deny the funding requests. Some of the ways the funds can be used, according to Bartlett, are for narcotic investigations, equipment and supplies, matching funds for federal and state grants, and the reporting of state and federal crime statistics. Bartlett noted that similar restitution funds exist in Montgomery, Lincoln and Franklin counties. It’s unclear how much additional revenue could be generated annually as a result of the new fees, however, the prosecutor’s office filed around 500 felony and 500 misdemeanor cases last year. A county smaller than Warren County receives upward to $30,000 a year, Bartlett noted. The county commission appreciated that the extra costs will be borne by criminals rather than county taxpayers. “They are the ones coming here doing the time, they should be the ones paying for it,” Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. Southern District Commissioner Hubie Kluesner added, “It looks to me to be a win-win.”
County adopts restitution fund
