CRIMINAL JUSTICE MANAGEMENT COUNCIL
April 16, 2008
Administrative Center Room B190
7:30 a.m.
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MEMBERS PRESENT: |
John Perlich, Steve Doyle, Judge Ramona Gonzalez, Vicki Burke, Bill Hammes, Jim Nesbitt, Tom Locante, Steve Helgeson, Ann Quinlisk, Sharon Hampson |
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MEMBERS EXCUSED: |
Dennis Montabon, Margaret Larson, Tim Gruenke, Jerry Huber, Gary Uting, Richie Johnson, Tom Knothe, Linda Schwandt, Fred Kusch |
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OTHERS PRESENT: |
Pam Radtke, Loralee Clark, Doris Daggett, Jane Klekamp, Bev Heebsh, Steve O’Malley, Terri Pavlic |
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:31 a.m.
UNPAID FINES PROCESS
Clerk of Courts Pam Radtke was present to discuss the unpaid fines process. If the judge orders a 1). fine, 2). forfeiture or 3). repayment of court appointed attorney fees AND the person does not pay - one of the following can occur. 1). A warrant can be issued, 2). the driver’s license can be suspended, or 3). they may have to appear in court to show cause for non-payment. Normally they are allowed 60 days to pay. In 2003, the Clerk of Courts started utilizing State Tax Intercept and also utilizes civil judgments. After using those options, the unpaid costs are sent to a collection agency, which was first used in August 2007. The process of inactivating receivables after all the remedies have been tried is dictated by the State. The account may be deemed inactive after a year of the last possible remedy has been tried. Warrants of $100 or less are handled differently due to the cost of managing those warrants. If the warrant is $100 or less, the staff will issue the warrant, send a copy of the warrant to the person, and if no response, it is not entered into the system. Pam distributed a report of outstanding receivable balances by account. Tax Intercept is working very well. In 2007, $86,925 was collected and as of April 10th, 2008, $50,513 had been collected. The collection agency from some very old cases has collected $9,159. For 2008, as of March 31st, $9,600 has been collected.
Pam and Trim Gruenke are in the process of managing old warrants. They will run a report every year and purge them every six years.
Some counties get the local newspaper to chip in on a full page ad listing the names and fines owed. We will check into the cost of a full page ad in the La Crosse Tribune.
APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 19, 2008 MINUTES OF THE CJMC
MOTION by Gonzalez/Nesbitt to approve the March 19, 2008 minutes of the Criminal Justice Management Council carried unanimously. (Montabon, Larson, Gruenke, Huber, Uting, Johnson, Knothe, Schwandt & Kusch excused)
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CJMC HANDLING “LARGER” POLICY ISSUES
The committee discussed the matter of handling larger policy issues using the Decision Making Process suggested by the Carey Group.
1. Define the Problem:
What is the scope of our vision? Should we take on large policy issues?
2. Assess Current Process:
There are no formal processes.
3. Identify Potential Problems:
We could become politicized
Spinning our wheels on something we can’t do anything about & very time consuming
Not understanding the entire scope of the situation
Duplicating our efforts of another body
Effectiveness of our committee
Local issues with larger bodies
Lose focus on local issues
4. Best Options
Focus on polices that have an impact on local issues. Examples given were: 1. Legislation regarding “Day Reporting”, 2. Putting 17 year olds back into the juvenile system, 3. People appointed County attorneys instead of Public Defender
The CJMC will decide if will discuss referrals from the County Board.
5. Plan of Action
Determine how a problem affects La Crosse County now and in the future.
Can we have an impact?
6. Implementation
We will strive for consensus, with positional authority. If there is a minority who do not agree with the majority, a minority report can be given to the decision makers.
NEW CJMC MEMBERS AND TERMS THAT ARE FINISHED
The terms for Jim Nesbitt and Richie Johnson on the CJMC are finished. Jim Nesbitt has agreed to serve for another term. Discussion was held regarding some citizen members not attending on a regular basis. Jane will draft a letter, from Steve Doyle, to the existing citizen members asking if they still want to be a member and that it is the goal of the CJMC that they attend 75% of the meetings. Also, a letter will be put in the Tribune asking for new citizen members.
ADJOURN
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 a.m.
The above minutes may be approved, amended or corrected at the next Council meeting.
Recorded by Terri Pavlic