Carol Stream eyes in-house traffic court prosecutor
Carol Stream isn’t raising fines for traffic violations — but village officials are hoping to make more money off them.
The village is looking into hiring its own attorney to prosecute offenses in traffic court, instead of the current arrangement in which the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office represents the village — and to which the village must pay a fee.
It’s a move that could bring in more revenue during lean economic times — and for a town that is one of the few in the suburbs that doesn’t levy a property tax.
The village receives a portion of the fines from traffic offenses, but the county retains a $25 prosecution fee by representing the village in minor cases at traffic court in Glendale Heights, and major offenses at the courthouse in Wheaton.
By hiring its own prosecutor, the village would retain that fee.
“This isn’t trying to make people pay more. This is about where the money is going once the fine is assessed by the judge,” Village Manager Joe Breinig said during a village board workshop meeting Monday.
Under the proposed arrangement, the village would receive 100 percent of fines and about 60 percent of court costs.
Deputy Police Chief Ed Sailer said a sampling of other DuPage County towns shows that those with local prosecutors received more revenue per traffic ticket, relative to Carol Stream. Nearby Wheaton, for example, collected $109 per ticket in 2010, while Carol Stream’s was $61 per ticket.
That’s despite the fact Carol Stream police issued far more citations — a total of 13,098 — compared to only 3,226 in Wheaton.
“We do all the work. We should get some of the benefits,” Sailer said. “Almost every other town is doing it. We should jump on the bandwagon.”
The three village trustees who attended Monday’s workshop meeting expressed early support for local prosecution, though some said they’d like to see more exact numbers on how much the program would cost the village and how much revenue it would bring in.
One estimate shows it could cost about $57,600 per year to hire an attorney, based on an hourly rate of $200.
With the village board’s formal approval, the village would send out a request for proposals to attorneys. The local prosecutor would work under direction of the police department’s traffic sergeant, with oversight from the police chief.
Carol Stream already has a local prosecutor for DUI offenses and an adjudicator for red light tickets. It’s possible those positions, along with a new local traffic prosecutor, could be combined, officials said.