A collections agency based in Tupelo and Jackson has pitched its services to the Leflore County Board of Supervisors to help collect more than a million dollars worth of delinquent justice court fines.
Gene Newman of Mississippi Warrant Network Collection Agency said Wednesday that his 40 years of experience in the bail bonding business gives his company an edge on locating people who owe delinquent fines, whether in state or out of state.
Additionally, he said a Mississippi statute allows counties and municipalities to add a 25 percent penalty on top of the fines already owed and his company gets 25 percent of what is ultimately collected, making it a self-paying proposition.
According to the statute, he said, people found outside the state can be levied a 50 percent nonpayment penalty.
To enter into a contract with Mississippi Warrant Network, supervisors would have to approve a resolution adding those penalties to delinquent fines.
“The state Legislature passed that statute so collection can pay for itself,” Newman said.
Newman said his agency would set up payment plans with people who respond to their attempt at collection but can’t pay the full amount.
Newman’s appearance before the board was the result of County Administrator Christine Lymon shopping around for collection services after the board expressed concern over the amount of uncollected fines.
It’s a perpetual problem in Mississippi with its high poverty rate and the resulting inability of many to pay fines plus attendant delinquency fees.
Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams said the city, which already contracts with a different collection agency, has seen its amount of unpaid fines almost double over the last few years.
“At one point our uncollected fines were down to
$1 million,” McAdams said. “Now it’s about twice that because of the court system that says if they can’t afford to pay, we can’t make them. We don’t have any leverage to collect.”
The city increases its collections, however, by offering an amnesty period each year during which penalties for late payment are forgiven.
Generally that happens during the months of January through March.
“We borrowed that idea from the city of Columbus,” McAdams said. “It has worked well for us.”
Police Chief Ray Moore said the amnesty period will commence in January 2018 and will run through the end of April.
“We figure that’s the time of year people are getting their tax checks back and can come in and clear some of that stuff out,” Moore said. “We’ll forgive penalties and set up payment plans for people who’ve gotten behind, and we’ll hold off on contempt warrants and stuff like that.
“We don’t want to lock anybody up, but these fines have to be paid.”
Both the county and the city have struggled with collecting fines since the Mississippi Legislature banned locking up people who cannot afford to pay their fines. Critics of Mississippi’s previous practice of incarcerating people due to unpaid fines said that amounted to an unlawful modern-day debtor’s prison.
Still, fines are levied for misdemeanor offenses in both municipal court and justice court every week, and the expectation is that they be paid.
District 1 Supervisor Sam Abraham said delinquent fines in the county total well over $1 million.
“The Legislature said you can’t lock them up when they don’t have a job, and collecting becomes a real problem for us,” he said.
The county ended a contract in 2013 with a different collection agency due to concerns that it was charging too much per month for their services, compared to what it was able to bring in.
Abraham said he favors the concept of Mississippi Warrant Network, which pays for itself through the added-on penalties and funnels all collections directly to the county.
Many collection agencies collect the money into their own accounts and write a check to the government agency in question.
“We had a situation one year where a company collected the money and then went out of business,” Abraham said.
Leflore County collects around $250,000 to $300,000 in fines each year, and the city nets around $400,000, after the state has taken its cut of collections. The mayor estimated the state’s portion amounts to a half or more of what the city collects. The money is used in part to help fund state law enforcement.
McAdams said funds from that account are budgeted for equipment and other needs of the police department.
•Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
