On this page, you will find information about the Victim Assistance Coordinator for Columbia County, as well as information about Orders of Protection, the Arkansas Crime Victims Reparations Program, and what information you need to report child maltreatment.

The Victim Assistance Coordinator for Columbia County is Darla Longino. If you would like to contact her, please call (870) 901-3547 or go by her office, 204 W. Calhoun in Magnolia, Arkansas. 
Other important phone numbers, if you are a victim, are:
Local Crisis Center - (870) 235-1414 (Women’s Shelter)
Legal Aid - (800) 950-0368
The Domestic Violence Hotline is (800) 269-4668

As a victim you have rights, which can be viewed on the Laura's Card website, Www.acic.org/citizens/Pages/victimsInfo.aspx#victimRights or 
Www.acic.org/citizens/Documents/CrVicGuideJuly2010.pdf.

Information about Orders of Protection:
The Order of Protection can:
Make your batterer move out if you are living together
Exclude your batterer from your residence, place of employment, and other places you may be present
State who will have temporary custody of children involved, as well as set up visitation arrangements
Tell your batterer to pay monetary support for your children

You can:
Get an Order of Protection without filing for divorce
Get an Order of Protection even if you are not married to your batterer
Get an Order of Protection on your own without hiring a lawyer

With an Order of Protection, the police can arrest your batterer without a warrant if he/she violates the order.

People Eligible for Orders of Protection:
If you are being beaten or threatened by your spouse, former spouse, someone you have a child with, someone you live with or formerly lived with, someone you are dating or have dated, or other family member (including in-laws), you can file for an Order of Protection.

The initial paperwork for getting an Order of Protection can be lengthy; please take this into consideration when filing for one. 

Information about Arkansas Crime Victims Reparations Program:
It was created by Arkansas Legislature in 1987 to provide financial compensation to victims who have suffered personal injury or death as the result of a violent crime, including DWI. 

Assistance available includes medical care, counseling, lost wages, funeral expenses, loss of support for dependents of deceased victims, and crime scene clean up.

Only victims of violent crime, minor child of eligible victim, spouse or parents or grandparents of certain victims, non-immediate family members of a victim who reside in the same permanent household as a deceased victim at the time of the crime, individuals who discover the body of a homicide victim, a person injured by an act of terrorism outside the United States, or Arkansas residents victimized in another state that has no compensation program are eligible for assistance.

In order to be eligible for assistance, you must:
have reported the incident to proper authorities within 72 hours of the incident,
have filed an application within one year of the incident,
suffer personal injury or death as a result of a criminal act,
not have a criminally injurious felony conviction,
not have been engaging in illegal activity at the time of the incident,
not be incarcerated at the time of the incident.
If the crime and injuries involved a vehicle, the incident must involve the intent to inflict harm, a hit and run, or the suspect must be in violation of the Omnibus DWI Act.

You can find more information on this subject by visiting Www.arkansasag.gov/programs/criminal-justice/crime-victim-reparations/.

Applications can be obtained by contacting the Attorney General's Office at (501) 682-1020 or (800) 448-3014, by visiting their website www.ArkansasAG.gov, or contacting your local Victim/Assistance Coordinator's Office.

 

To Report Child Maltreatment:
Gather information (name, address, and any identifying information possible on the children, parents or caretakers, and siblings, which could be social security numbers, dates of birth, gender, and/or school and workplaces)
Also gather all information possible including the nature and extent of maltreatment, and any location the maltreatment took or is currently taking place.

In order to report, please call the Hotline number at (800) 482-5864. Please be ready to give them your name, information, as well as any actions you have taken, if applicable. 

 

SOURCE: Columbia County Victims of Crime Program
              Office of the Prosecutor, 13th Judicial District