|
Fine Enforcement Program
The Ada County Prosecutor and Boise City Finance have teamed up to provide a collection process for court costs, restitution and fines on misdemeanor cases. The Prosecutor’s Office has done extensive studies and has found that the most effective way to collect fines is in-house rather than contracting to a collection agency. Our fine enforcement officers are knowledgeable about court orders and the court process in general. Fine enforcement officers work closely with the jail, probation officers, and other agencies to hold defendants accountable for paying fines. This knowledge is invaluable in making offenders accountable to the Court and society. In addition, the Fine Enforcement Program generates much needed revenue for several programs and Ada County
The fine enforcement officers are located on the first floor of the Ada County Courthouse, 200 West Front Street, Boise, Idaho. The Fine Enforcement Program currently requires a $50.00 down payment toward fines immediately after sentencing in order to establish a Fine Agreement. All defendants are expected to come to court ready to pay the entire balance. However, in hardship cases, fine enforcement officers will grant monthly payments if they receive the down payment.
Each case is monitored closely. The goal of the Fine Enforcement Program is to collect fines in order to avoid incarceration of people for failure to pay their fines when possible. Incarceration adds further expense to taxpayers and strains law enforcement resources. However, offenders should be aware that a warrant will be issued as a last resort for failure to pay a fine.
Fine Enforcement has collected the following percentages of fines imposed over the last five years:
| 1998 |
94.20% |
| 1999 |
101.15% |
| 2000 |
101.76% |
| 2001 |
88.72% |
| 2002 |
81.36% |
These figures represent the amount each defendant is fined in a particular year versus the amount collected in that year. Often fines are collected in subsequent years from the original sentence, resulting in collections of over 100% in some years. The collections for Ada County are a stunning example of the success of our Ada County Prosecutor’s Fine Enforcement Program.
For information please call:
Ada County Fine Enforcement (208) 287-7847
Boise City Fine Enforcement (208) 287-7848
|
