| NEW YORK - Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and Chief Administrative
Judge Jonathan Lippman today announced the start of a Statewide program
that uses a private collection agency to collect millions of dollars of
unpaid court fines and surcharges each year.
The court system proposes that a portion of the monies collected - consisting
of fines and surcharges owed to the State and local governments as a result
of convictions in criminal cases, including traffic infractions in some
parts of the State - be used to help fund an increase in assigned counsel
rates. New York's assigned counsel rates ($40 an hour for in-court work
and $25 an hour for out-of-court work) - unchanged since 1986 - are the among
the lowest in the country.
Chief Judge Kaye said, "When court fines go uncollected, not only are
the State and localities deprived of substantial revenue, but also offenders
are not held accountable for breaking the law. While experience has shown
that governmental institutions are not equipped to function successfully
as collection agencies, government can put into place effective mechanisms
to collect monies due. To this end, the court system has contracted with
a private firm to collect criminal fines and surcharges in six pilot locations
throughout the State. We propose that a portion of the monies recovered
be dedicated to increasing the State's assigned counsel rates, which are
plainly inadequate. With the Legislature's support, the revenue brought
in by this new program can be tapped to ease the fiscal burden of raising
assigned counsel fees."
Judge Lippman noted, "Assigned counsel rates in New York are completely
out of step with today's economic realities, and consequently we are seeing
a mass exodus of lawyers from the assigned counsel panels. This has led
to a crisis situation in the courts, with dire repercussions for the processing
of Criminal and Family Court matters. What more appropriate use of monies
recovered from delinquent offenders than to funnel them into increasing
assigned counsel rates in New York. Thus, we ensure equal access to justice
for all New Yorkers, as well as increase the accountability of those who
attempt to ignore judgments of the court."
The program will begin in six locations: Rochester City Court, Queens
Supreme Court, Suffolk District and County Courts, Nassau District Court
and New York City Criminal Court. Within a three-year period, these courts
were found to have over 480,000 delinquent judgments, totaling millions
of dollars in fines and surcharges.
Mandatory surcharges are imposed in all criminal and traffic convictions,
with amounts ranging up to $150. In addition, fines can be imposed as part
of a sentence in such cases.
OSI (Outsourcing Solutions, Inc.), a debt collection company, was selected
after the court system issued a request for proposals last year. |
