EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – A lengthy legal battle for ABK Tracking and the company’s president Danny Koester that started in August of 2022 has come to an end.
“Whenever your employees and your staff and your family’s doing everything you can the right way, and you get sued for doing things the right way? That makes it kind of challenging,” says Koester.
The federal lawsuit accused ABK Tracking and circuit court judge David Kiely of operating through exorbitant fees, alleging they were taking advantage of criminals by using those fees to earn profit and pay wages. According to the suit, one individual in the program paid nearly $2,000 in ABK fees in a 3 month period. But Koester says the company did nothing wrong.
“As the individual, you can get with the attorney and ask for modifications,” explains Koester. “It’s up to the court to make a decision on what they want done. We’re no more than a vendor, and that’s what I’ve been saying from day 1. We’re a vendor, and if they choose to use us they can, and if they choose not to use us, they don’t have to.”
According to Koester’s legal team, that was one main reason the federal case was dismissed. Koester says the second reason is the court’s belief this is more suited for a state-level lawsuit.
This is all un-related to previous hearings between ABK and the Vanderburgh County Community Corrections Board, who decided in January to use Lexington-based Corrisoft as the county’s electronic monitoring provider over ABK. While that matter is in the past, Koester isn’t ruling out future legal action in connection with the Corrisoft contract.
“That’s something our legal team will have to talk about,” says Koester. “I mean, everything’s on the table.”
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