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Since the legislature cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for California courts
again this year, it’s more important than ever that court ordered fines be collected.
Plus, courts are required to go after that money. The Shasta court does an especially
good job of that. Since they set up the unit 18 years ago, they’ve brought in $73 million
in delinquent accounts. They’re going after about a hundred million more. That’s a lot
of people not paying their court debts on time, with serious consequences.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “So it tells you that people
really let it go delinquent before they want to start talking to you. And that’s not
the time to do it because then we’re going out and putting holds on your driver’s license,
we’re suspending your license, we’re garnishing your wages, we’re liening your property,
we’re trying to get you to respect the court and the order that’s handed down.” :20
Shasta now has a staff of 21 collecting, reporting, distributing and consulting for courts in
five counties, including Glenn.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “They were collecting around
$452,000, right now we’re up to over 3-quarters of a million dollars a year we’re collecting
for Glenn alone, which is a substantial amount when you consider the size of the county.”
That’s a 49% success rate, when the benchmark is 34%. For Yuba County, they have a 73% success
rate. And they’re just starting to work in Colusa. People are paying up.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “We find we get a lot of
cooperation because we call up and kind of counsel them, we try to help them through
their debt process. We even get thank you letters, believe it or not.”
Clerk “Your problem now is transportation? So we’ll work with that.”
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “I’ve got some real aggressive
collectors but they’re really really nice.”
Lori Loveless, Shasta Court Collections Officer “You certainly want to be able to work with
a person to help them as best you can to collect those fines so that they can move on.”
But don’t mistake the compassionate tone for weakness.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “We’re going to be persistent,
we’re going to make you honor your debt some way, we’re going to get some kind of
answer out of you. Do you want to work it off, do you want to sit it out in jail?
Or better still, set up a repayment schedule.
Patty Walls, Shasta Court Services Supervisor “As long as they’re consistent with the
payment we encourage them, we will work with them on getting their fines paid off, even
at $5 a month, that’s better than nothing.”
They do not write off any debt, and they never forget a debt, no matter how old it is.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “One the other day we had
was ’88. He wanted to know ‘Where did you find me?’ He remembered it. We never
forget. We’re watching.”
These collectors take their jobs very seriously, because it’s not just about the money. It’s
about respect for the justice system.
Ray Tickner, Chief Financial Officer, Shasta Superior Court “If a judge assesses a fine
and he gets ignored, then his credibility gets challenged. We don’t like to see our
judges’ credibility get challenged.”
They even have eyes and ears in Canada to track down scofflaws, to make sure what’s
rightfully owed – is paid. I’m Leanne Kozak reporting from Redding
for California Courts News.