Monroe County State Attorney’s Office has launched its new website

The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office has launched its new website, www.keyssao.org, to provide the community a wealth of information about the criminal justice system in an easy-to-understand format.

 

In addition to basic information such as the locations of and directions to Monroe County’s courthouses and contact information, the website has user-friendly guides to the legal system including a legal glossary for those who are not attorneys and a description of the life-cycle of a criminal case. Public-records requests can be made online.

 

There is extensive help for crime victims, such as information about their rights to file victim impact statements in criminal cases and receive assistance from victim/witness coordinators as the criminal case winds through the system, how to receive financial restitution from a defendant or financial help from Florida’s Crime Compensation Trust Fund, and how to receive civil justice outside the court system. Human trafficking, reacting to trauma and how to deal with worthless checks also are covered. Victims of domestic violence will find assistance specific to their situation.

 

There is a section for consumers, with points on how to guard against becoming a victim of various kinds of fraud, and information about Florida’s landlord-tenant law.

 

Because the Florida Keys’ economy relies largely on our marine environment, the website has a section focusing on marine resources and the law, including information about protected species, the regulations for lobstering and spearfishing and the penalties for violating those regulations, and marine-related property crimes.

 

The website also contains a hurricane section with tips on how to avoid those who try to take advantage of people when a disaster strikes, including unscrupulous contractors and scammers claiming to represent charities; and the definitions of and penalties for price-gouging.

 

Additionally, the site contains news releases about significant cases handled by the State Attorney’s Office, both current releases and archived past releases. There are links to a wide variety of other resources and law-enforcement agencies.

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