IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld announced yesterday in an interactive press conference that the County's bad check enforcement program now has the capability to receive restitution payments online. Saline County is the first judicial district in Arkansas to accept credit cards over the Internet for restitution payments. Hot check payments can be made through the state's official Web site at www.Arkansas.gov.

"I am extremely proud of the success of our innovative and aggressive hot check program," said Herzfeld. "We expect this program to be a model for other jurisdictions to follow and should significantly increase our ability to get restitution to hot check victims as soon as possible."

The Saline County hot check program is paid for entirely by prosecutor fees collected through hot check prosecutions at no cost to taxpayers. The Saline County Prosecuting Attorney's Office is responsible for collecting and redistributing more than $1 million a year in fines, costs, and restitution paid by hot check offenders.

Herzfeld teamed with the Information Network of Arkansas and the Prosecutor Coordinator's Office to develop the service. The service integrates with the Prosecutor Coordinator's hot check system used by Saline County and most other prosecutors in Arkansas, which should allow other hot check offices around the state to add the service with relative ease. "I'm pleased that our hard work will pay off not only in Saline County but also for merchants and other victims around the entire state," continued Herzfeld.

To make an online restitution payment, the payee only needs to enter a hot check ID number, last name, and credit card information. Visa, MasterCard, and Discover payments are processed through Arkansas.gov's secure payment portal.

"Hot checks have always been an important priority for this office, and our investment of resources and aggressive stance have paid off in dividends for the people of Saline County," concluded Herzfeld. "We have a dedicated team of professionals working hard every day to prosecute these cases and, most importantly, to collect restitution for merchants who have been ripped off."

About Arkansas.gov

Arkansas.gov is the official Web site of the state of Arkansas (www.Arkansas.gov) and a service of the Information Network of Arkansas. The Information Network of Arkansas is a collaborative effort between the state of Arkansas and Arkansas Information Consortium that helps Arkansas government entities Web-enable their information services. Arkansas.gov was built and is marketed, operated, and maintained by Arkansas Information Consortium, a Little Rock-based wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq:EGOV).

Quelle: Business Wire, 22.11.2005