Charlotte Observer----
(Shocked AG says he'll help crime victims get their money after courts improperly diverted it.)
RALEIGH - State Attorney General Roy Cooper says he is shocked that thousands of crime victims were denied restitution that had been diverted to pay other legal costs, and he is setting up a task force to help the victims get their money.
“I'm shocked that crime victims have been forced to wait behind the government before getting the funds they deserve,” Cooper said in a news release. “Our task force will help crime victims get the money that belongs to them.”
The News & Observer and the Observer reported Sunday that for the past 10 years, North Carolina's court system had improperly diverted millions of dollars that should have gone to compensate crime victims. State law requires that victims be compensated first, but the court system placed them third in line, behind fees for probation and community service. A computer setting pushed crime victims even further down the line, behind fines and city and county fees.
Court officials said it would be difficult to track down all the victims who lost out on restitution.
But starting Tuesday, the codes in the court system computers were to be reconfigured so that victims receive their money first, said Sharon Gladwell, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts. That will mean victims in any pending criminal cases should start receiving money that perpetrators were ordered to pay to them.
The state agency is also looking at what legal hurdles might get in the way of retroactively paying victims in cases where offenders paid portions of the money owed before the case was closed.
Mecklenburg Clerk of Court Martha Curran said Tuesday she and her clerks will do everything they can to make sure victims of crimes receive their restitution. She said her staff will be reviewing cases where restitution has been ordered to make sure the victims from now on are compensated first.
“Restitution to victims should be the number one priority,” Curran said. “We'll do everything possible to get victims their money.”
Cooper, a former state lawmaker, was one of the sponsors of the 1998 state law that put crime victims first when criminals pay restitution to the court. He has also sent a letter to John Smith, the director of the state's administrative courts office, urging him to identify cases in which crime victims lost compensation as a result of the improper actions.
“Just as important as setting future priorities is making it right for past crime victims,” Cooper wrote.
The letter was copied to Chief Justice Sarah Parker, House Speaker Joe Hackney, Senate leader Marc Basnight and Gov. Bev Perdue.
“It's shameful. It is disheartening,”Basnight said.
He has instructed his staff to find out how so many victims didn't receive the money they were owed. He said that victims in closed cases should still get the money they are owed.
Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for Perdue, said: “Governor Perdue believes that criminals should pay for their crimes, both by serving time and paying restitution to their victims.”
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Sources: Charlotte Observer, News Observer, Google Maps
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