Ruling reversed on statute of limitations for collecting criminal fines

An Idaho Supreme court recently ruled in favor of Shoshone County, Idaho, for $33,000 in fines from convicted methamphetamine manufacturer John Dorsey, according to the Association of Credit and Collections Professionals. Dorsey had signed a parole agreement in 2008 that served as a written acknowledgement of his debt to the county, which allowed a debt collections agency to solicit him for the unpaid fines, notes The Daily Reporter. Dorsey had assumed that the statute of limitations for the county to collect had run its course. Justice Jim Jones commented on the case to the ACA, stating that "No statute of limitations applies to the collection of a fine, monetary penalty or restitution provision contained in a judgment of conviction in a criminal case." The Dorsey case may prompt a broader movement for counties to collect all unpaid criminal fines. Mark L. Clark, owner of Collection Bureau Inc., told the ACA that counties may be sitting on uncollected revenue because of a lack of resources to pursue it, or they may think that it's uncollectable after five years." The Daily Reporter adds that the amount of fines that have been handed out in Idaho and remain uncollected is in the millions of dollars.