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Changes
made in the Greene County District Court by Judge Dan
Stidham
have made national news. The stiffer penalties Stidham has
applied to hot check writers since January have been noticed
and have been discussed in a national lawyer's publication
this month.
Lawyer's
Weekly USA in its March 19th issue published a story on Stidham
and his severe treatment of hot check writers in Greene County.
The article applauded the local court for cracking down on
bad check writers. The article read as follows:
"A
Greene County *District court is cracking down on habitual
bad check writers. Under a new policy introduced in Judge
Dan Stidharn's courtroom, people who are charged with
writing bad checks will face stiffer penalties. First
time offenders will be required to appear in court, rather
than being allowed to pay restitution and a fine before
the Court date. If found guilty, they will have to pay
restitution, a fine and court costs. They will also be
sentenced to six months probation and eight hours of community
service. All offenders will be required to attend a budget
counseling course and repeat offenders will probably face
jail time, according to Stidham."
The
magazine said it decided to write the article after seeing
an article about Stidham and his court changes on the Associated
Press wire. Stidham stressed in February that the court and
Greene County taxpayers are not a Payment Collection agency.
More than $1.1 million is currently owed the County in *District
court fines, court costs and restitution set up in payment
plans. The February balance was $1,103,821.60.
Stidham
has pledged to stop allowing bad check writers to take advantage
of local merchants. In addition to sentencing defendants to
community service work- eight hours for each check they write-
there is also attendance of the hot check counseling course.
"We, hopefully, will be able to teach folks how to balance
check books, budget themselves and avoid having to be back
in Court on hot check charges," Stidham said. Stidham
is committed to handing down tough sentences to defendants
in the hope that it will discourage them from acquiring additional
misdemeanor charges and appearing before him a second time.
In fact, he has promised that it will be downright uncomfortable
for people who stand before him more than once. Second chances
are going to be hard to come by in *District court from now
on," he said.
In
the court's new payment program, there are a completely different
set of rules, First, defendants are required to pay at least
25 percent of their total fines, court costs and restitution
up front before they're allowed to even set up an installment
payment plan.
Secondly, defendants must pay the minimum monthly payment;
no more partial payments will be allowed . Thirdly, the minimum
monthly payment allowed has been increased to $50 a month.
The judge also deals harshly with people who appear before
him with felony charges. Probable cause hearings bring hefty
bonds. He continues to set substantial bonds for all defendants
bound over to Circuit Court on felony charges. Stidham said
he does not take any felony charge lightly. And he's particularly
hard on those defendants who appear before him on drug charges.
Stidham
acknowledges that the word is getting around in Greene County
that he is a force to be reckoned with on the bench. "I'm
not going to change what I'm doing. That means people appearing
before me need to change what they're doing. I don't want
to be known as the hanging judge or a strict judge,"
Stidham said, "I just Want to do the right thing."
Starting
next week there will be a new court schedule for *District
court charges. Monday's Court Session, which begins at 1 p.m.,
will hear all traffic charges and will be a criminal plea
day. Defendants who wish to plead guilty or not guilty will
be allowed to and have their trial day set. From now on Thursday's
court session will be devoted to trials. Court on Thursday
begins at 9:30 a.m. All *District Court sessions are held
in the Greene County Courthouse in the *District Courtroom.
*
As a result of the passage of Amendment 3 by the voters in
last November's election, all Municipal Courts in the State
of Arkansas became known as "District Courts" effective
July 1, 2001. Thus, the former Greene County Municipal Court
became the District Court of Greene County on July 1, 2001.
In the original article that appeared in the Paragould Daily
Press on March 31, 2001 all references to the Court referred
to it as "Municipal Court."
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