24 Feb District Attorney Expands Community Service and Collections of Past Due Fines and Fees
District Attorney Matt Ballard and members of his staff met with representatives of agencies that can benefit from the work of people sentenced to perform Community Service. Some offenders may be able to avoid jail time by working 40 to 120 hours at Rogers County organizations.
District Attorney meets with representatives of helping agencies in Rogers County
Annette Tucker of Wildheart Ranch shared during the meeting that half of her current volunteers tending to the needs of orphaned or injured wildlife are former Rogers County Community Service workers.
By conservative estimate 800-1,000 people under DA supervision each year can provide nearly 80,000 work hours. Some have specialized skills such as electricians, carpenters, plumbers and people with lawn care services.
District Attorney Matt Ballard says “Receiving a sentence involving DA supervision is a privilege and the opportunity to bring some good out of something bad. It’s not a get out of jail free card we’re going to hold people accountable while trying to help make our community a safer and better place.”
Ballard and his Director of Supervision hosted a meet and greet February 24th at the Rogers County courthouse.
Ballard says “There are a lot of people doing a lot of good in our community for children, adults and animals. In these tough budgetary times nearly every organization out there could use an extra hand. In addition to regularly scheduled duties we can also help staff special events and charity collection events.”
In a related effort Ballard’s supervision staff and investigators are stepping up focus on collecting past due monies people owe to his office in Craig, Mayes and Rogers Counties.
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