Chicagoland County Hires Collection Agency to Go After Traffic Fine Debt

Kendall County (Ill.) recently sent the first batch of unpaid traffic tickets to Harris & Harris, a collection agency that is now working with the county to track down fees and fines that were left unpaid after the driver was convicted, according to a story in The Beacon-News.

Harris & Harris was hired in March after Kendall officials noted that neighboring counties had experienced success in using private debt collectors to go after their debt. A similar program in Kane County collected $1.2 million in unpaid fees and fines in 2009. The Illinois Legislature gave counties statutory authority to hire debt collection agencies in 2008.

“These unpaid fines, costs and fees put an additional burden on the criminal court system,” said Kendall State’s Attorney Eric Weis. “The county uses the fines, costs and fees it collects to support the judicial system and other programs. When these amounts are not collected, the taxpayers have to pick up the difference or services have to be reduced.”