Knox Co. to start community service program for indigent defendants

Knox County leaders on Monday will lay out the details to a new pilot program that gives local judges the power to offer community service - rather than issue stiff fines and fees - to thousands of indigent defendants.

The state legislation was approved earlier this year, but is unique to Knox County. It will sunset July 1, 2018.

At that point, lawmakers will determine if it was successful and whether to implement it statewide.

“In the past, the people convicted of various crimes that involved a fine could claim poverty and the judge would dismiss them, so technically you would get off scot-free,” said state Sen. Richard Briggs, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. “Well, you can still claim poverty but the judge has the option to issue community service as part of the punishment to pay back the debt to society.”

The bill gives Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond the power to implement the program. Once the defendants are referred to his office, the clerks can determine whether the defendants qualify and – if needed – monitor their progress.

Hammond will talk more about the program during a news conference Monday morning.

"As we roll out the program we will have three providers who will help out, including solid waste, KARM and the Lending Angels, who are a group of nurses who help identify the needs of the elderly and may have specific needs for carpenter skills," Hammond said. "This program will be the first of its kind in the state."

WBIR 10News addressed the problem last summer in its "Fines, Fees and a Flawed System" investigation of Knox County court operations.

The review, in part, found that a handful of homeless, indigent defendants were responsible for court debts of more than $750,000 - a figure that court officials readily admit the men could never pay.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm from the Legislature about this bill,” Briggs said. “Hopefully it will be successful.”

Criminal Ct Clerk: $1M lost because office collected wrong jail fee

For almost two decades, the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office charged and collected the wrong jail fee amount.

As a result the county lost out on at least $1 million.

The problem was discovered earlier this week and fixed Thursday morning.

“For 19 years we have not been charging what the law says we should be charging,” Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond said.

In July 1997, the Knox County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution raising the daily jail fee for those incarcerated from $46.20 to $50.

However, the criminal court clerk’s office never acknowledged the increase.

“Realistically, or conservatively, I should say, we believe the county has missed out on over a $1 million,” Hammond said. “And it’s more than that, but that’s the conservative number.”

Hammond, who took office in September 2014, said he asked his chief of staff, Richard Major, to look at all fees his office charges and collects and to make sure the costs are in line with state and local law.

Major discovered the error on Wednesday.

“You look at well over $1 million and that’s money that could go toward this new safety center (for the mentally ill) that they’re talking about,” Hammond said. “Or it could go to jail improvements, or it could go to the sheriff’s department to buy additional supplies or things for the jail system.”

Moving forward, Hammond said, he expects jail fee collections to bring in an additional $50,000 to $60,000 in revenues for the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

Rest of story HERE.

As judges waive $1.2M in fines/fees, officials look at other punishments

Knox County’s five sessions court judges have waived a little more than a combined $1.2 million in court costs, fines and fees assigned to local offenders since last September when they started their new terms in office.

And, Knox County’s three criminal court’s judges – who hear fewer cases than their peers in sessions court – have waived a little more than a combined $60,100 during the same time period.

That means a not only are lot of local defendants not paying for their crimes, but the county and state are also losing out on much-needed revenue. Local leaders, however, noted that many of the defendants probably cannot afford the costs.

"We see an awful lot of people who are chronically addicted, homeless, mentally ill," said Sessions Court judge Check Cerny.

The judges are tasked not only with handing down punishments, but also deciding who can and cannot pay court fines and fees.

"We're very, very careful," Cerny said. "we receive testimony in open court and often, we actually require affidavits (which detail a defendant's finances)." We scrutinize the evidence and make a decision based on, not sympathy, but rather whether or not it's financially prudent to continue trying to collect something that would be impossible to collect."

But, there might be something they can do about it.

When the state General Assembly meets again in January, officials are expected to talk about a proposal that would let judges waive the costs, yet subject the defendants to some sort of community service, possibly picking up trash on the side of the road, cleaning up the Tennessee River or volunteering at a non-profit.

Rest of the story RIGHT HERE.

Court Clerk: Money from Knox County bail bond agencies pouring in now

The Knox County Criminal Court Clerk's Office has collected roughly $78,500 from East Tennessee bail bonding agencies that owed the state because their Knox County defendants failed to show up for court.

The uptick in collections comes just weeks after a WBIR 10News investigation revealed that more than a dozen of the companies were on the hook to the justice system for more than $141,000.

The Clerk's Office reports some of the debts go back two and three years, some maybe even more than that.

The money – called a bond forfeiture – is a source of revenue for the state. But it falls under the purview of the Clerk's Office and the local General Sessions and Criminal Court judges to monitor, collect and enforce.

When someone is arrested and jailed, a magistrate or a judge often sets a monetary value of bail. It's meant to ensure a defendant will come to court if given his freedom pending prosecution.

The defendant is typically kept in jail until the full amount of bond is posted, usually by someone acting on his behalf.

Once the defendant's case comes to a resolution, the person will get back the money – minus any fees, penalties or court costs.

In addition, a defendant wishing to pay bail can purchase a surety bond – or premium – through a bonding company. That cost is typically 10 percent of the overall bond amount, and the defendant does not get the money back.

By agreeing to bond the person out, the bonding agency becomes responsible for making sure the defendant goes to court for trial.

If the defendant skips a court date, the judge issues an arrest warrant and forfeits the bond. The agency then owes the court the full bond payment.

Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond said seven bail bonding companies have paid a combined $78,500 of the total debt as of Oct. 7.

Full story RIGHT HERE.

Bonding companies owe state $141K

More than a dozen East Tennessee bail bonding agencies owe the state a total of almost $141,000 because their Knox County defendants failed to show up for court, records show.

Knoxville-based Unchained is on the hook for the most at $54,500, and AA Bonding, which has regional offices, owes $32,550, according to records provided by the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk's Office.

In addition, the state is due $24,500 from the locally operated Southern Bail and another $10,150 from A and A.

Another 10 companies each were in debt to the state as of Sept. 15 for between $500 and $4,500.

Some bonding companies counter, however, that the figures do not tell the whole story.

Sean Sanford manages Sanford & Son, which dates to the 1930s. He said only a few companies owe much of the money. Sanford, who learned Friday the clerk's list showed him owing $2,000, said he quickly paid what he owed.

He also said one notice from the clerk's office was in error and that he owes nothing for the defendant.

The three companies identified as the top offenders either declined comment or could not be reached.

Rest of the story RIGHT HERE.

Outstanding Debt: fines, fees Part 3

Offenders owe $16.2 million in restitution

Susan Lynn Hoard pleaded guilty in 2000 for stealing almost $1 million in client trust accounts held by a Knoxville law firm where she worked. She spent the money on elaborate dresses, a swimming pool and a convertible.

Then-Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz sentenced the former secretary to 18 months in prison and ordered her to pay back more than $600,000.

Records, however, show that she’s returned about $14,500 – only 2.4 percent of the overall bill since then – and hasn’t cut a check to the victims in almost two years.

And, she’s not the only one who has fallen behind – or not made – restitution payments.

There are hundreds and hundreds of criminals convicted in the Knox County court system that owe some amount of compensation. In fact, records show that victims are due a combined $16.2 million in restitution, a figure that dates back to 1998.

Sometimes the offenders have ripped off their own company. Other times, they’ve stolen from strangers, even family and friends. They might have written a check that bounced or burglarized a house.

In some cases, the criminals have taken cars, clothes, jewelry or cash. Often times, they’ve vandalized someone’s property.

Either way, there’s roughly a hundred convicted criminals alone that owe tens of thousands of dollars each to area residents and businesses, and local leaders are growing concerned that the money – as the debts get older and older – is getting harder and harder to collect.

So concerned are they, that the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office is looking to hire a new debt collector, which officials in the office hope to have in place by Nov. 1.

What happens next is anyone’s guess.

For the rest of the story, including lists of those who owe, slideshows and more, click RIGHT HERE.

Outstanding Debt: fines, fees Part 2

The second part of our 3-day series:

Mindful of the defendants in the Knox County General Sessions Court system who have accrued years of costs and fees they cannot possibly pay, Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond is preparing a plan.

He said he wants to identify the people who have no hope of paying what they owe, such as the handful of homeless, indigent defendants 10News reported Monday in its investigative series "Fines, Fees and a Flawed System. " The men collectively owe more than $750,000.

Hammond also wants to single out those who have simply fallen behind or neglected what they owe and really can pay at least something. And the clerk wants to offer possible ways a defendant could work off his bill, perhaps some kind of community service.

It's all still in the "idea" stage, said Hammond, a former county commissioner who took office in September, and he first needs to come up with a detailed, specific proposal to present to Knox County General Sessions Court judges.

Knox County defendants owe millions of dollars of unpaid court costs and fees, figures show. It's not unusual for one person to owe $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000. Many defendants who are charged with a crime are already poor and rely on a court-appointed attorney for representation.

The five men profiled by 10News on Monday owe more, judges, clerks and lawyers concede, than they could ever pay. One defendant, Anthony Joe Mason, died in April, and last week a General Sessions Court judge abated his costs in a case.

"We'll go to the judges and say, We're not going to collect this. Our recommendation to you is that we forgive this debt. Let's not have it on our books. It's kinda like a bad debt in business," Hammond said.

He's also is in the process of looking for a new collection agency that can help with collections and hopes to have that firm in place in November.

Hammond oversees clerical operations for the General Sessions, Criminal and Fourth Circuit courts.

All told there's about $159 million on the books waiting to be collected in those courts, the vast amount in General Sessions and Criminal courts.

Hammond said he would be happy if he could bring in a fraction of that - $15 million or $20 million.

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Outstanding debt: fines, fees Part I

We started a 3-part investigation last night looking at the money owed from criminals to the county and their victims.

In the Knox County General Sessions Court system, four men notorious for having been arrested thousands of times collectively owe more than $600,000 in fines and court costs.

That's money they'll never pay back. Never.

If the amount were 10 percent of that they couldn't afford it. If it were only 1 percent - $6,000 - the public would never see a dime.

Michael Pierce, Harvey Alley, Donald Street and Aubrey McGill are the four worst offenders when it comes to people who owe the court system money, according to figures given to 10News by Knox County Criminal Court Clerk Mike Hammond's office.

A fifth man, Anthony Joe Mason, also appears on the Clerk's Office's list of worst offenders, but 10News has determined he died in April.

The defendants' bills never go down. They have been growing since the 1980s when the names of many of the five first were typed into the county's computer system.

Within all of his purview, Sessions Court, Criminal Court and Fourth Circuit Court, Mike Hammond said he faces $159 million in uncollected costs and fees. He said it's not realistic to think his office actually could collect all that money.

Rest of the story RIGHT HERE.