Our View: We Call it 'Nevada accounting'

Perhaps we can coin a term for it - "Nevada accounting," for example, or "Silver State bookkeeping."

It would be defined as the method by which a state department collects money from people without having any idea who owes what, how much they have paid or what to do if they don't pay.

The latest example would be the Parole and Probation Division, which is supposed to be collecting restitution payments from criminals on parole.

Probably this is not the kind of program to operate on the honor system.

The parolees who have been paying restitution may feel like schmucks today, after they found out - along with lawmakers - that nobody is keeping track of whether they are paying or not.

Earlier this year, we were told the Ethics Commission was unable to determine who owed fines they should have paid for failing to file election disclosure information. The state waived some $250,000 in fines because of the bookkeeping problems.

That's not a solution in the case of restitution to victims of crime. Neither is the suggestion apparently made to an 82-year-old woman by Parole and Probation - that she take the criminal to court to recover the money owed her.

Sorry, but he's already been to court and been sentenced, and part of that sentence included restitution. Can no one enforce the court's orders?

It reminds us of yet another Nevada snafu - the collection and disbursement of child-support payments, which also are court ordered and yet too often take direct involvement from the payee before anything gets done.

In the case of Parole and Probation, it's clear that the first step is to get the records in order. The second step seems equally simple: Restitution must be a condition of probation or parole. The criminal's not off the hook until the victim is paid in full.