Government : BENTON COUNTY COLLECTIONS IS OFF TO THE FASTEST START YET!

Benton County has been collecting delinquent Court debit since 2011. Each July, the State requires that Benton County collect $50,000 in order to "meet threshold" and remain in the collections program. Last year threshold was met in October but this year, the $50,000 threshold amount was collected by the first week in Septembera full month ahead of previous years.

The Collections Office has expanded since Benton County Attorney David C. Thompson implemented the program and now in addition to Benton County, Deb Fleming and Ed Watts are also collecting for Tama, Bremer, and Buchanan Counties through 28E agreements and serve approximately 12,000 clients. Benton County is the only county in the State that is collecting for three additional counties. Just as in Benton County, these counties must also meet the $50,000 threshold amount and have already done so.

To date the Benton County Collections Office has collected a total amount of $7,811,983.24, including $923,249.61 in restitution for the four counties and $1,771,914.07 has been deposited into Benton County's budget.

Two goals of the Collections Office:

1. To see that victims are reimbursed for the damages that were inflicted on them.

a. An example of how some of that restitution money has been used is in the restoration of the Colonel John Shane monument that was vandalized in one of the local cemeteries. David has a great respect for veterans and has taken it upon himself to oversee the restoration project.

2. To help people get valid driver's licenses or a Temporary Restricted License (in the case of a barred or revoked license). To that end, the Collections Office participates in the CAPP program which lifts a suspension for non-payment of fines and can help "clear the way" to a TRL.

If you have any questions about pay plans for your delinquent fines, please contact Deb or Ed at 319-472-2422.