McHenry Co. inks deal to target fine scofflaws

Scofflaws owe McHenry County and its municipalities as much as $1 million in unpaid court fees and fines, officials say.

But perhaps not for long.

The county this week inked a deal with a Pennsylvania-based collection agency to recover outstanding fines and fees owed by criminal and traffic offenders.

Under the deal, the county will receive 100 percent of whatever money the firm, Alliance One Receivables Management Inc., recovers. The agency then can bill the delinquent offender a fee of up to 30 percent of the money owed, a move permitted by state legislation approved in June.

Under those terms, officials see the arrangement as a win-win for the county and taxpayers.

"It's the taxpayers' of McHenry County's money," County Board Chairman Ken Koehler said. "We have a dutiful obligation to pursue collecting those funds."

The plan is to first go after an estimated $300,000 owed on cases generated by the McHenry County Sheriff and Illinois State Police, State's Attorney Louis Bianchi said.

That may be a relatively small sum compared to the county's $243 million budget, but with a slowing economy and declining revenues from building permits, sales taxes and recording fees, every bit counts,

"It's more important now than ever to do this with our (county) revenues down," Bianchi said.

Not everyone, however, is impressed. Criminal defense lawyer Daniel Hofmann called the deal "one more level of bureaucratic humbug."

"The county already has the best collection agency in the world - the ability to put people in jail," Hofmann added. "All the judges have to do is enforce the law and put people in jail if they don't pay."

Bianchi said trying to put hundreds of people in jail for not paying fines - a process that would require multiple court dates - would be too much of a drain on the system.

"We just don't have the manpower," he said. "A lot of these people just need a reminder and a nudge."