The former head of Lawrence’s teachers union has been ordered to repay nearly $100,000 in stolen union dues. But in the justice system, repayment of stolen money is far from a sure thing.

“We do have restitution paid in full. It does happen, but the larger awards make it more difficult,” said Katy Nitcher, the Douglas County District Court Trustee.

Nitcher’s office, located in the Judicial & Law Enforcement Center at 111 E. 11th St., has been responsible since 1998 for collecting on payments owed by criminal defendants. The office has a contract with Atty. Gen. Phill Kline’s office that gives it the authority to collect the money.

At last count, the total amount of restitution referred to the office since 1998 was about $1.26 million, Nitcher said. Of that, only about $353,000 – roughly 28 percent – had been collected.

During Wayne A. Kruse’s sentencing on Monday, his attorney successfully argued against putting him in jail, saying it would only make it harder for Kruse to repay the $95,384 he owes to the Kansas National Education Assn.

Kruse, a former Quail Run School teacher and Lawrence Education Assn. president, was convicted of felony theft and forgery for stealing from the union. He since has moved to Marysville and is working two jobs, his attorney said.

He’ll be required to pay restitution as a condition of probation. Robert Fairchild, the chief judge at District Court, said judges occasionally revoked probation for people whose only violation was failing to pay restitution.

• Kruse avoids prison time (10-04-05)
• 6News video: Kruse sentenced for embezzlement (10-03-05)
• Kruse pleads guilty to theft (09-07-05)
• 6News video: Kruse pleads guilty in embezzlement case (09-06-05)

Nitcher said it’s impossible to predict how successful any one person will be in paying restitution. Alcohol and drug problems seem to be some of the biggest barriers to repayment, she said.

The local probation office refers defendants to Nitcher’s office if they owe money – whether it’s restitution or court costs. The trustee’s office works out a monthly payment plan with the person, and if the payment isn’t made in 60 days, the trustee adds a 33.3 percent collection fee to the total amount the person owes.

Defendants can have their wages garnished if they fail to make regular payments. With each payment, the trustee’s office deducts a percentage to cover the collection fees.

Nitcher said it wasn’t possible to say Tuesday what percentage of defendants successfully paid their restitution. The office has about 1,500 pending criminal cases, she said.

The restitution process has been the source of frustration for at least one Douglas County resident in recent years.

In 2003, a Lawrence man said he was upset to learn that the man who burglarized his home would only be ordered to pay restitution at market value for the stolen items instead of replacement value. The burglar, 23-year-old Travis R. Swanson, was ordered to pay $3,743 as a condition of probation, but victim Harvey Irby said the items – including sunglasses, jackets and a pair of binoculars – would cost $1,000 to $1,500 more than that to replace.

It wasn’t clear from looking at Swanson’s court file Tuesday how much he had repaid. Irby couldn’t be reached for comment.