SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — In South Dakota, people convicted of crimes owe their victims millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution, but most of that debt is going unpaid and there is little remedy available for those harmed to get their money.
In theory, ordering criminals to pay for damages they caused gives courts a way to provide victims some measure of financial compensation and closure. The idea is so highly valued that state courts are required by law and a recent state constitutional amendment to order defendants to pay restitution anytime there is measurable financial harm done to a victim.
In practice, state data show, criminal restitution rarely benefits the people who need the most help after being victimized. The vast majority of criminal restitution never gets paid. Over the past three fiscal years, state courts have ordered criminals to pay more than $10.4 million to their victims. Of that, courts have collected only about $2.1 million for victims.
With barely 20 percent of court-ordered restitution being paid in South Dakota, some experts wonder if requiring criminals to pay victims money they do not have is doing more harm than good for both sides of the equation.
In the latest South Dakota News Watch article available here, reporter Nick Lowrey examines the lack of restitution payments and the outcomes for both those who are owed and those who owe.
(South Dakota News Watch contributed this report.)
