Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Owe money to Madison County? The next call you get will be from collection agency

Threats of being thrown in jail and losing a driver's license apparently aren't enough to motivate some people to pay their fines, so Madison County is trying another option: a collection agency.

Circuit Clerk Matt Melucci is warning that people who owe fines in Madison County will have their names turned over to a collection agency.

The county has reached an agreement with a Chicago-based collection agency, Harris and Harris Ltd., for the collection of unpaid fines. There is no cost to the county. The agency makes money from a 28.5 percent fee added on top of the fine.

The collection agency can take the defendant to small claims court and can report the debt to credit rating agencies.

Judy Nelson, chief deputy for Melucci's office, said she did not have a precise figure on how much the county is owed in unpaid fines.

"It's upwards of $500,000. That we can say for sure," Nelson said.

Traffic violators are warned early on that if they don't pay their fines, they could lose their driving privileges. And Melucci said in most cases of unpaid fines, a warrant has been issued for the defendant's arrest.

"Generally, the police don't go and knock on their door," Melucci said. "Usually the warrants only come into play if they happen to get pulled over for another violation."

Melucci said some defendants may think a fine has gone away.

"I think they get a false sense that, hey, it's been four months, six months since it's happened. Maybe it's dead," Melucci said.

He acknowledged that the threat of being pursued by a collection agency or getting a bad mark on a credit rating won't inspire everyone to pay.

"But maybe when they get a call from somebody following up, they'll realize, 'Hey, I better pay this,'" he said.

Fines are shared by municipalities, the county and various state funds. Last year, Harris and Harris boasted that it collected more than $3 million in delinquent fines for Peoria County and its municipalities.

Nelson said other collection agencies were considered, but Harris and Harris was chosen because the agency was recommended by other Illinois counties and because the agency has experience with the company that provides computer software for the clerk's office.

Melucci said police departments generally don't take away a driver's license when a ticket is issued. "They're reluctant to do that, because it leaves the person without any identification," he said.

He added, "Generally they try to avoid that because of what's gone on since 9/11. It's become people's identification card."

Melucci said it doesn't make sense for the county to try to collect the unpaid fines on its own.

"We don't have the manpower," he said. "We're not going to expand to try to collect this money. It's easier to use people that are experienced in this type of thing. ... We're trying to do everything we can to bring in as much money as we can that's owed to the county. We're trying to offset the need for tax increases."

Nelson said fines are mostly owed in traffic, misdemeanor, driving under the influence and ordinance-violation cases. Madison County last year had about 66,500 traffic cases, about 9,000 misdemeanor cases, about 1,800 DUI cases and about 4,400 ordinance-violation cases.

St. Clair County approved a similar agreement with a collection agency, AllianceOne, last year.