$3M returned to crime victims in Baxter County

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Photo: Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery writes check representing $3 million milestone in victims’ restitution from felony crimes.

Imagine being the victim of a long-forgotten crime more than 20 years ago and finding an envelope in your mailbox from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office with a check enclosed. It’s happened–more than once.

By taking a number of unique approaches to aid victims of crimes since Sheriff John Montgomery took office almost 15 years ago, this week his office reached a milestone. Montgomery says a check was written representing his department having returned $3 million in victims’ restitution from felony crimes.




Montgomery says he has been frustrated during his law enforcement career when it seemed victims are often left out. He says there is talk about the cost of incarceration and courts, but seldom about the financial impact of victims.


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Montgomery says it’s taken a number of unique steps to reach the $3 million milestone.


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The efforts to garnish wages required amending existing law, with Montgomery testifying before the legislature to develop a less cumbersome process.

From that point, what began as a manual bookkeeping operation for gathering and recording restitution took a giant leap forward about 18 months ago with the sheriff’s foundation purchasing software to track felony accounts receivable.

Montgomery says the data inputting process required multiple staff members to work 16-18 hour days. Working late one night, he had a thought.


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He says the age of that case is not the only one dating back a number of years. Of the more than 30 restitution checks printed this week, seven of the cases dated to the mid ’90s.

Then, Montgomery took the process a step further. He started sending handwritten notes, with the first batch on “thank you” cards–the only type he had available at that time.


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That first success prompted Montgomery to write more notes. He says he’s now sent in the neighborhood of 4-500 handwritten notes.




To achieve the $3 million milestone, Montgomery gives credit to his staff who has embraced the effort and to Prosecutor David Ethredge and the circuit judges for allowing him the flexibility to develop different payment arrangements.

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