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District attorney seeks staffing to pursue $10 million in older uncollected restitution; reports recent recoveries
Summary
District Attorney Diana Murphy briefed commissioners on restitution collection operations, reported recent deposit totals and garnishment recoveries, and said her office has an archived restitution ledger that could yield over $10 million more if staff and scanning resources were available.
District Attorney Diana Murphy told commissioners her office is expanding restitution collection efforts but needs additional staffing and technical support to pursue a large volume of older, uncollected cases.
Murphy said the office has implemented new tools such as a check scanner and has begun sending Edmonds entries to streamline deposits. She also described a garnishment program that collects state-tax refunds for restitution and said the office collected roughly $76,000 so far in one reporting category and total deposits for 2024 approaching $355,000 across restitution, supervision fees, donations and electronic payments.
"We have a restitution program in the archives," Murphy told the commission, and the office's records show more than $10 million in older uncollected restitution that could be pursued with dedicated staff and time. She said the office is already pursuing roughly $4.257 million in JustWare (the case-management system) cases and that additional data entry and scanning could bring many older cases back into active collections.
Murphy asked the commission to consider additional staff or funding mechanisms to pursue these older claims. Commissioners suggested preparing a package to evaluate the cost and potential revenue recovery and discussed options such as collection fees or legislative change to support enforcement efforts.
Why it matters: Restitution recovers funds for crime victims and can reduce the need for other county funding streams to cover victim services. Murphy's request outlines a potential revenue source but requires upfront staffing or system investments to realize recoveries.
What's next: Murphy said she would follow up with a specific staffing and cost package for commissioners to review; commissioners asked staff to assist in evaluating options for funding additional collection work.
