By Staff Reports

August 17, 2015

DEKALB COUNTY, Ala.– District Attorney Mike O’Dell and Circuit Clerk Pam Simpson announced a cooperative effort to locate victims entitled to restitution payments. In a joint announcement, both offices have committed resources to find affected victims and deliver their restitution checks being held by Simpson’s office.

“We have been focused on collecting restitution, fines and court costs,” O’Dell stated, “but we realized that there were a substantial number of restitution payments being held by the clerk that couldn’t be paid out for several reasons. Pam and I met to discuss ways to rectify this situation, and it was decided to combine our resources in attempting to locate these victims. The Clerk’s Office would process the names and last known addresses of potential recipients, and my investigators would seek to locate them.”

According to Simpson, there is almost $100,000 in restitution payments being held by her office. The vast majority of these payments can’t be paid out due to incorrect or insufficient addresses. “My office has been ‘short-staffed’ for several years now due to annual budget cuts; thus, we have been unable to come up with the resources to initiate location services,” Simpson pointed out. “Mr. O’Dell contacted me about this issue and has graciously offered to work with us in this process. These efforts are clearly the right thing to do, for these victims deserve the restitution payments that have been ordered and received on their behalf.”

O’Dell pointed out that the recent efforts mandated by the legislature have all been “geared” toward the defendant. The Sentencing Guidelines passed by the legislature to reduce prison overcrowding, and made mandatory on October 1, 2013, reduce the sentence lengths that defendants face upon conviction, guarantee probation for many offenses, and essentially eliminate any real and meaningful accountability on the part of defendants. The result is that victims are basically “ignored” and justice is based on economics, not what is suitable punishment. The tools District Attorneys have historically had to make criminals answerable for their crimes and accountable to victims and the community have been removed from our legal arsenal. This trend towards addressing the “needs” of criminals, at the expense of victims, took another giant leap with the passage of the Prison Reform Bill during the last legislative session.

This ill-advised legislation was again premised on the “cost of incarceration” and not appropriate sanctions for those who would prey on innocent victims.”

“As Chief Law Enforcement officer for the Ninth Circuit (Dekalb and Cherokee Counties), enforcing the law and seeking justice is my mission and responsibility,” O’Dell said. “That mission, first and foremost, should be focused on the rights and needs of the innocent victims of crimes committed against them. My office has been committed to fulfilling that mission, and we continue to fight for victims’ rights in our community. This joint program with the Circuit Clerk is one more effort by both offices to meet that obligation to victims.”

O’Dell acknowledged that his resources are also limited due to on-going budget cuts. “I lost two long-time investigators to retirement that I have been unable to replace. My office budget has suffered a nearly 50% reduction since 2008. The prognosis for this year is even more draconian for both the DA and Circuit Clerk’s Offices; however, Pam and I believe so strongly in this effort, and the rights of our victims, that we are willing to commit staff members to locate as many victims as possible. It is a matter of tracking them down and getting these restitution checks in their hands.”

According to Mrs. Simpson nearly $40,000 in restitution checks have already been presented to formally “lost” victims under the new program. “Both our offices have put a great deal of effort in trying to locate these victims and getting restitution checks in their hands. The program is already a tremendous success, and it has encouraged us to try even harder to locate all the potential recipients. We will be utilizing every possible location device at our disposal, and when we reach a dead-end, we will seek to engage the services of the local media. Finally, if a victim is deceased, we will endeavor to identify estate information in order to get the money to

“As you can imagine, the response from the recipients of these checks has been very positive. Many had “written off their restitution” believing the defendants had just gotten away

without paying. Their surprise turned to joy when Mike and I were able to hand them their “long lost” restitution. It has been very gratifying for both of our offices.”

This is not the first time that these two elected officials have joined forces for the benefit of the citizens of Dekalb County. “Mike and I have a great working relationship,” Simpson said, “and we have worked together on other projects designed to assist victims and help make our local court system run smoother.”

O’Dell agreed. “Pam and I have always worked well together. She is not only a fellow elected official, but a close friend, as well. I have tremendous respect for her as a person and for the great job she does as Circuit Clerk. I am very pleased that we have been able to collaborate on this wonderful project.”