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Finance office takes over post‑Jan. 1 court-appointed attorney fee notices; first statements sent
Summary
Brookings County finance staff described changes to how court-appointed attorney fees and related liens will be handled after Jan. 1 and said the office sent initial statements, plans to send quarterly statements and is still sorting older records transferred from the Clerk of Courts.
Brookings County finance staff told commissioners April 15 that the county has taken over collection responsibilities for certain court-appointed attorney fees and related liens for cases completed after Jan. 1 and that the office has begun sending statements and meeting with residents to set up payment plans.
Laurie (Finance) briefed the board and said she handed out a wind-farm revenue breakdown and reminded residents that mobile home and real-estate taxes are due at month end. Laurie said the clerk of courts stopped accepting payments for court-appointed attorney fees for cases completed after Jan. 1 and that the welfare-office portion of collections has moved to the finance office to simplify public interactions.
Kim (finance staff) explained the operational change in more detail. She said the county moved responsibility for statements and payment plans to the finance office and that the office is working through older records to distribute balances to the appropriate collecting office. Kim said the office had sent an initial round of 87 statements and had received five payments within a week and several callers seeking payment plans. She said there are 9,386 individuals in the system whose accounts need review and that, since the beginning of 2025 records reviewed for court-appointed attorneys show $90,000 (phrase in transcript) that needs sorting and distribution.
Kim told the commission the county does not yet have a process in place with a collection agency for accounts that remain unpaid after collection letters; the clerk of courts had previously worked with a collection agency for older accounts prior to 2025.
Why it matters: The change centralizes public-facing payment handling for these liens in the finance office and affects thousands of account holders with outstanding balances; it also requires administrative work to map older clerk-of-court entries into the county’s finance system.
Next steps: Finance staff will continue distributing and reconciling older lien records, meet with residents to set up payment plans, and plan a regular statement cadence (staff said they plan quarterly statements). The county has not yet engaged a collection agency for post-2025 collections and will determine next steps internally.
