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County has $200k in uncollected DWI fines
By Francesca Olsen
COLUMBIA COUNTY — Columbia County has $200,000 in uncollected DWI fines, according to the Board of Supervisors legal committee on Sept. 16.
Since 1986, 491 separate fines were not collected from DWI charges, totaling $218,600. From 1986 to 2008, there are 1,394 DWI cases still pending, according to a spreadsheet handed out at the committee meeting.
County STOP-DWI Coordinator Jessica Nabozny-Shufelt sent a letter to the committee addressing the uncollected fines.
The STOP-DWI department gets quarterly reports from the state Department of Motor Vehicles informing it of fines that have and have not been collected from DWI offenders.
“I would like to be sure that when reviewing this information on a quarterly basis that Columbia County’s fines being collected and not being collected are accurate and that these figures reflect the true dollar amounts that are being paid in lieu of fines,” Nabozny-Shufelt wrote.
The STOP-DWI department is not a full-time department. “I feel it is necessary to try to get the county’s reporting procedures in sync and as accurate as possible so that the revenue coming in can assist in expanding existing programs, creating new programs and could down the road possibly allow for salaries to be paid for a full time STOP-DWI department,” Nabozny-Shufelt wrote.
“We’ve got to check, because I checked Kinderhook’s, and it’s wrong,” said Committee Chairman Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook. “We’ve got to find out what the problem is.”
“A lot of these are bad debts,” said Supervisor Reggie Crowley, R-Copake. “You can’t put someone in jail for not paying a fine if they’re indigent.”
“We are getting less money from the state for programs that are funded to help prevent drug and alcohol addiction problems,” McGivney told the Register-Star.
The legal committee and legal efficiencies subcommittee, which meets one hour before the legal committee each month, also addressed the growing concern of caseload numbers for county public defenders and in the District Attorney’s Office.
“It appears the public defenders are doing two times the workload ... it appears there’s something wrong with the figures,” said McGivney.
The committee, McGivney said, is trying to determine what is a fair caseload for its attorneys.
During the August meeting of the legal committee, Public Defender Arlene Levinson reported that to cover family and support court, 17 to 18 full attorney’s days are needed per week, and part time attorneys “are really there every day.”
“We have had to turn down requests for attorneys from both the public defender and the district attorney because of budgetary constraints,” McGivney told the Register-Star. “We’re trying to get a handle on the statistics ... to work with the legal committee and the department heads to see if there isn’t some way we can make the process more efficient.”
“We need in the first instance to reconcile the figures and then devise strategies for dealing with the fact that we have budgetary constraints which we’ve never had before,” McGivney said.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
Since 1986, 491 separate fines were not collected from DWI charges, totaling $218,600. From 1986 to 2008, there are 1,394 DWI cases still pending, according to a spreadsheet handed out at the committee meeting.
County STOP-DWI Coordinator Jessica Nabozny-Shufelt sent a letter to the committee addressing the uncollected fines.
The STOP-DWI department gets quarterly reports from the state Department of Motor Vehicles informing it of fines that have and have not been collected from DWI offenders.
“I would like to be sure that when reviewing this information on a quarterly basis that Columbia County’s fines being collected and not being collected are accurate and that these figures reflect the true dollar amounts that are being paid in lieu of fines,” Nabozny-Shufelt wrote.
The STOP-DWI department is not a full-time department. “I feel it is necessary to try to get the county’s reporting procedures in sync and as accurate as possible so that the revenue coming in can assist in expanding existing programs, creating new programs and could down the road possibly allow for salaries to be paid for a full time STOP-DWI department,” Nabozny-Shufelt wrote.
“We’ve got to check, because I checked Kinderhook’s, and it’s wrong,” said Committee Chairman Doug McGivney, D-Kinderhook. “We’ve got to find out what the problem is.”
“A lot of these are bad debts,” said Supervisor Reggie Crowley, R-Copake. “You can’t put someone in jail for not paying a fine if they’re indigent.”
“We are getting less money from the state for programs that are funded to help prevent drug and alcohol addiction problems,” McGivney told the Register-Star.
The legal committee and legal efficiencies subcommittee, which meets one hour before the legal committee each month, also addressed the growing concern of caseload numbers for county public defenders and in the District Attorney’s Office.
“It appears the public defenders are doing two times the workload ... it appears there’s something wrong with the figures,” said McGivney.
The committee, McGivney said, is trying to determine what is a fair caseload for its attorneys.
During the August meeting of the legal committee, Public Defender Arlene Levinson reported that to cover family and support court, 17 to 18 full attorney’s days are needed per week, and part time attorneys “are really there every day.”
“We have had to turn down requests for attorneys from both the public defender and the district attorney because of budgetary constraints,” McGivney told the Register-Star. “We’re trying to get a handle on the statistics ... to work with the legal committee and the department heads to see if there isn’t some way we can make the process more efficient.”
“We need in the first instance to reconcile the figures and then devise strategies for dealing with the fact that we have budgetary constraints which we’ve never had before,” McGivney said.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
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