Yuma County Fine Reduction Program
DRAFT
6/26/2017
Yuma County Fine Reduction Program Summary of Program Results - DRAFT
Supreme Court of Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Yuma County Fine Reduction Program Summary of Program Results - DRAFT
Executive Summary In the Spring of 2017, people with unpaid or balance-due traffic tickets from Yuma County’s seven municipal and justice courts had a one-time opportunity to close their case through a limited-duration fine reduction program. This program was, in part, prompted by a series of reforms resulting from the Arizona Supreme Court’s Justice for All Task Force report, “Justice for All: Report and Recommendations of the Fair Justice for All: Court-Ordered Fines, Penalties, Fees and Pretrial Release Policies,” released in September 2016. The Fine Reduction Program (FRP) offered a 50% reduction in fines, penalties and surcharges in eligible delinquent cases during the program’s limited duration. Defendants could choose to pay the reduced amount in full or request a payment plan. The program goals were two-fold: 1) allow defendants who are eligible to have their license reinstated, and 2) fulfill monetary obligations in delinquent cases. Participants with eligible cases could enter the program from February 13 to April 21, 2017. During this time, 803 cases entered the program. Of these cases, 543 had their reduced balance paid in full and 260 cases were placed on payment plans. A total of $159,830 was collected. Cases with payment plans will continue to be monitored over the next year for compliance and the results will be detailed in a future report.
Yuma County Before the Fine Reduction Program Yuma County is located in the southwestern corner of Arizona, bordering California and Mexico. It has three justice courts (located in Yuma, Somerton/San Luis and Wellton), as well as four municipal courts (located in Yuma, Somerton, Wellton and San Luis). These courts have been sending their delinquent cases to the FARE Program for collections since 2008. The justice courts utilize the Judicial Assistance Unit (JAU), a department of the Superior Court that accepts FARE payments and creates and monitors payment plans. During the Arizona Supreme Court’s Justice for All Task Force meetings in 2016, the Honorable Maria Elena Cruz, then the Presiding Judge for the Superior Court of Yuma County, expressed interest in implementing a fine reduction program for her county’s limited jurisdiction courts with the assistance of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Consolidated Collections Unit. DRAFT 1
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
In October 2016, the Supreme Court of Arizona authorized the AOC to partner with the limited jurisdiction courts in Yuma County to pilot a collection program pursuant to A.R.S. §28-1601E, Administrative Order 97-57 and Arizona Code of Judicial Administration §5-205(I). Prior to the program’s start in mid-February, the courts had total FARE receivables of $15.7 million (about 24,600 cases) with approximately $8.3 million (about 14,000 cases) eligible for the fine reduction program. In October 2016, Presiding Judge Cruz, Yuma County Superior Court Administrator Kathy Schaben, managers and judges from the seven courts, AOC staff and the FARE vendor staff began working together to design a program to fit the needs of the population in Yuma County.
All FARE Cases/Receivables (as of 2/10/17) Court Yuma JC Somerton/San Luis JC Wellton JC Yuma MC Somerton MC Wellton MC San Luis MC Total
FARE Cases 12,566 1,372 2,482 6,217 1,454 388 168 24,647
% 51% 6% 10% 25% 6% 2% 1% 100%
FARE Receivables $7,064,132 $998,188 $1,592,445 $4,696,056 $982,212 $283,504 $97,396 $15,713,993
% 45% 6% 10% 30% 6% 2% 1% 100%
Program Scope and Design The criteria for eligibility in the Fine Reduction Program were: civil traffic cases, with no restitution owing, that have been in FARE collections for at least 24 months (on or before December 1, 2014). Cases with criminal charges or Driving under the Influence (DUI) charges were not eligible for this program. A list of eligible cases meeting the program’s criteria was created by the AOC Data Warehouse. This list was then sent onto the FARE vendor. The vendor conducted skip-tracing on the eligible cases in order to retrieve updated addresses for defendants for issuance of the special notice. The pilot program began on January 19, 2017 with the creation of the case list. Defendants with eligible cases received a special notice regarding the one-time offer of a reduction in financial assessments. The notice indicated the specific case, the court’s name and the duration of eligibility. If the defendant agreed to enter the program, the court suspended 50% of the balance and then the defendant either paid the reduced amount in full or entered into a payment plan.
2
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Notification to eligible participants was approached in three ways: written notice, auto-dialer calls and press releases that directed the public to a website with the published case list.
FRP Eligible Cases/Receivables (as of 2/10/17) Court Yuma JC Somerton JC Wellton JC Yuma MC Somerton MC Wellton MC San Luis MC Total
FRP Eligible Cases 7,517 907 942 3,610 1,053 127 68 14,224
% 53% 6% 7% 25% 7% 1% 0% 100%
Eligible Receivables $3,884,438 $609,935 $543,810 $2,557,727 $687,601 $85,092 $31,930 $8,400,533
% 46% 7% 6% 30% 8% 1% 0% 100%
Notices were sent out February 14th and 22nd (7,120 and 6,104 notices, respectively). The duration of eligibility was 60 days from the mailing of the notice. Within that time, the defendant had to appear in court to enter the program and begin their payments, or work out other arrangements with the court if they were not able to appear in person (e.g. phone conference or email). Defendants with eligible court cases with phone numbers were notified using the Judicial Assistance Unit’s autodialer system. This system pulls data from eligible cases and then issues a pre-recorded message (English and Spanish) when either a person answers the phone or a voicemail system picks up. Over 4,800 calls were placed on February 21st and 27th, 2017. A press release (English and Spanish) was also issued. The release contained information about the program and informed the public about the eligible case list that was posted online at www.yumacountyaz.gov/finereduction . The case list was alphabetized by defendant last name and contained the defendant name, case number, court, current case balance and reduced balance. Defendants were instructed to appear at the court associated with their case number to enter the program. The reduction amount was calculated using the Priority of Payments programmed into the AZTEC case management system. The lower priority receivables were suspended as part of the fine reduction and the highest priority receivables remained in the case. Any driver license holds associated with the case were lifted (if eligible). While FARE collections were suspended, cases remained in FARE even when on a payment plan to allow for the compilation of statistics on the amount of money receipted. Collection activities such as additional collection notices and phone calls were suspended on eligible cases during the program. DRAFT 3
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
At a December 16th meeting of the planning committee, members from the participating courts all felt that they would be able to handle the increased workload as a result of this program. The Judicial Assistance Unit agreed to provide assistance to courts as necessary. Arizona Motor Vehicles Division (MVD) was contacted by the AOC, was briefed on the program and confirmed its agreement to assist as needed. No changes to current MVD– court protocols were required during the program. Detailed data on delinquent cases at these courts prior to the Fine Reduction Program can be viewed in Appendix A.
Results from Fine Reduction Program
Taking into consideration the age of the cases, the collection efforts already underway at these courts and the large number of cases deemed “uncollectible” due to bad addresses, the amount collected during the program ($159,830) and the volume of cases closed (543) was deemed to be a success by the courts. The 803 cases in the program represent about 9.5% of the eligible cases and the money collected represents about 6.5% of the eligible collectible receivables (after the 50% discount). It appears that the program spurred some defendants to take care of their delinquent cases, even those who had never made payments on their cases or had not made payments for over 5 years. Data from Table 3 in Appendix A shows that 57% of the cases had no payments prior to the program start date and 13% of the cases had no payment in the 5 years prior to the program.
4
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Additional Program Benefits One additional, unanticipated program benefit is also noteworthy. The introduction of the program also prompted additional payments above and beyond the program. This may have been due to defendants with ineligible cases who came to the court upon hearing of the program, working with court staff to become reengaged with the court and making payments on their cases. Looking at a FARE Payment Comparison of the FRP time period compared to the same time period last year, there was an 82% increase in the number of payments and a 41% increase in the amount paid. When the FRP data is removed, there is still a 20% increase in the number of payments and a 3% increase in the total amount paid. In addition, during the program, at San Luis Municipal Court, the magistrate gave payment plans and license suspension releases to defendants who appeared in court, but were not eligible for the fine reduction program. This resulted in another 39 defendants having their license suspension lifted and being placed on payments plans. Over $8,000 in down payments were collected by the court. Additional program results can be seen in detail in Appendix B.
Program Costs The total costs to develop and implement the Fine Reduction Program was approximately $26,000. The FARE vendor, Conduent, spent $16,500 on notices and postage. The AOC expended approximately $9,600 on staffing and automation support.
Comparison to 2010 Flagstaff Pilot Collections Project In 2010, Flagstaff Municipal and Justice Courts participated in a similar project. The case criteria was similar to that of the Yuma County program (civil traffic cases, no DUI or restitution cases), with the exception that cases had been in FARE for more than 36 months. The Flagstaff project was also different in that participants were only given the option of paying the reduced amount in full; payment plans were not a possibility. The project ran from September 1st to December 30th, 2010. During that time, $62,915 was collected and 395 cases were closed. With the 2010 Flagstaff Project in mind, the Yuma County Fine Reduction Program was designed differently to test whether reducing the delinquency period from 36 to 24 months and offering payment plans would bring the program greater success. Based on the Yuma County program’s results, it appears that these expanded program parameters did, in fact, expand the pool of program participants and increase the amount collected.
DRAFT 5
Supreme Court of Arizona
Project 2010 Flagstaff Courts 2017 Yuma County
Administrative Office of the Courts
Eligible Cases 12,933 14,224
Collectible Discounted $1,235,289 $2,486,377
Cases Closed 395 543
% of Eligible Cases 3% 3.8%
Amount Collected $62,915 $159,830
% of Collectible Discounted 4.8% 6.4%
Ongoing Efforts to Enhance Compliance with Court Orders The AOC and Yuma County courts will continue to pursue endeavors which will increase enforcement of monetary court orders. Yuma County’s justice courts already utilize their Judicial Assistance Unit for handling FARE cases and cases on payment plans. The JAU continues to work with Superior Court’s IT Division to increase the number of auto-dialer campaigns so defendants are reminded on a regular basis about their payment plan due dates and other case elements such as future court dates and license status. Due to the success of the Fine Reduction Program press releases and webpage, a quarterly media campaign informing the public on how to resolve their cases is under consideration. The AOC is ready to assist as needed in the implementation of these efforts as the goal of enforcement of monetary court order enhances the public’s confidence in our judicial system.
Acknowledgements Successful projects are the results of staff commitment during the development and implementation phases. The AOC gratefully recognizes the efforts of the following individuals and thanks them for their assistance: Yuma County, the Superior Court of Yuma County and the limited jurisdiction courts of Yuma County: Presiding Judge Maria Elena Cruz, Kathy Schaben, Cesar Fazz, Kevin Tunnell, Reyna Curiel, Eloina Eustace, Margo Fasavalu, Angela Graddy, Judge Juan Guerrero, Yameli Holguin, Susan Northcutt, Andrea Ruiz, Minnie Samaniego, Nicholas Felber. Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts:
6
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Don Jacobson, Candace Atkinson, Brittany Pelly, Adrian Soltero and Laura Ritenour, Heather Murphy, Kathir Velu, Sathya Muthusamy, Gene Stout, Rajesh Das, Sriman Dhamodharan, Pamela Peet and Anthony Shanks. Conduent: Kerri Rivers, Renee Johnson, Dale Cusack and Michael Sorkin.
DRAFT 7
6/26/2017
Yuma County Fine Reduction Program Summary of Program Results - DRAFT
Supreme Court of Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Yuma County Fine Reduction Program Summary of Program Results - DRAFT
Executive Summary In the Spring of 2017, people with unpaid or balance-due traffic tickets from Yuma County’s seven municipal and justice courts had a one-time opportunity to close their case through a limited-duration fine reduction program. This program was, in part, prompted by a series of reforms resulting from the Arizona Supreme Court’s Justice for All Task Force report, “Justice for All: Report and Recommendations of the Fair Justice for All: Court-Ordered Fines, Penalties, Fees and Pretrial Release Policies,” released in September 2016. The Fine Reduction Program (FRP) offered a 50% reduction in fines, penalties and surcharges in eligible delinquent cases during the program’s limited duration. Defendants could choose to pay the reduced amount in full or request a payment plan. The program goals were two-fold: 1) allow defendants who are eligible to have their license reinstated, and 2) fulfill monetary obligations in delinquent cases. Participants with eligible cases could enter the program from February 13 to April 21, 2017. During this time, 803 cases entered the program. Of these cases, 543 had their reduced balance paid in full and 260 cases were placed on payment plans. A total of $159,830 was collected. Cases with payment plans will continue to be monitored over the next year for compliance and the results will be detailed in a future report.
Yuma County Before the Fine Reduction Program Yuma County is located in the southwestern corner of Arizona, bordering California and Mexico. It has three justice courts (located in Yuma, Somerton/San Luis and Wellton), as well as four municipal courts (located in Yuma, Somerton, Wellton and San Luis). These courts have been sending their delinquent cases to the FARE Program for collections since 2008. The justice courts utilize the Judicial Assistance Unit (JAU), a department of the Superior Court that accepts FARE payments and creates and monitors payment plans. During the Arizona Supreme Court’s Justice for All Task Force meetings in 2016, the Honorable Maria Elena Cruz, then the Presiding Judge for the Superior Court of Yuma County, expressed interest in implementing a fine reduction program for her county’s limited jurisdiction courts with the assistance of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), Consolidated Collections Unit. DRAFT 1
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
In October 2016, the Supreme Court of Arizona authorized the AOC to partner with the limited jurisdiction courts in Yuma County to pilot a collection program pursuant to A.R.S. §28-1601E, Administrative Order 97-57 and Arizona Code of Judicial Administration §5-205(I). Prior to the program’s start in mid-February, the courts had total FARE receivables of $15.7 million (about 24,600 cases) with approximately $8.3 million (about 14,000 cases) eligible for the fine reduction program. In October 2016, Presiding Judge Cruz, Yuma County Superior Court Administrator Kathy Schaben, managers and judges from the seven courts, AOC staff and the FARE vendor staff began working together to design a program to fit the needs of the population in Yuma County.
All FARE Cases/Receivables (as of 2/10/17) Court Yuma JC Somerton/San Luis JC Wellton JC Yuma MC Somerton MC Wellton MC San Luis MC Total
FARE Cases 12,566 1,372 2,482 6,217 1,454 388 168 24,647
% 51% 6% 10% 25% 6% 2% 1% 100%
FARE Receivables $7,064,132 $998,188 $1,592,445 $4,696,056 $982,212 $283,504 $97,396 $15,713,993
% 45% 6% 10% 30% 6% 2% 1% 100%
Program Scope and Design The criteria for eligibility in the Fine Reduction Program were: civil traffic cases, with no restitution owing, that have been in FARE collections for at least 24 months (on or before December 1, 2014). Cases with criminal charges or Driving under the Influence (DUI) charges were not eligible for this program. A list of eligible cases meeting the program’s criteria was created by the AOC Data Warehouse. This list was then sent onto the FARE vendor. The vendor conducted skip-tracing on the eligible cases in order to retrieve updated addresses for defendants for issuance of the special notice. The pilot program began on January 19, 2017 with the creation of the case list. Defendants with eligible cases received a special notice regarding the one-time offer of a reduction in financial assessments. The notice indicated the specific case, the court’s name and the duration of eligibility. If the defendant agreed to enter the program, the court suspended 50% of the balance and then the defendant either paid the reduced amount in full or entered into a payment plan.
2
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Notification to eligible participants was approached in three ways: written notice, auto-dialer calls and press releases that directed the public to a website with the published case list.
FRP Eligible Cases/Receivables (as of 2/10/17) Court Yuma JC Somerton JC Wellton JC Yuma MC Somerton MC Wellton MC San Luis MC Total
FRP Eligible Cases 7,517 907 942 3,610 1,053 127 68 14,224
% 53% 6% 7% 25% 7% 1% 0% 100%
Eligible Receivables $3,884,438 $609,935 $543,810 $2,557,727 $687,601 $85,092 $31,930 $8,400,533
% 46% 7% 6% 30% 8% 1% 0% 100%
Notices were sent out February 14th and 22nd (7,120 and 6,104 notices, respectively). The duration of eligibility was 60 days from the mailing of the notice. Within that time, the defendant had to appear in court to enter the program and begin their payments, or work out other arrangements with the court if they were not able to appear in person (e.g. phone conference or email). Defendants with eligible court cases with phone numbers were notified using the Judicial Assistance Unit’s autodialer system. This system pulls data from eligible cases and then issues a pre-recorded message (English and Spanish) when either a person answers the phone or a voicemail system picks up. Over 4,800 calls were placed on February 21st and 27th, 2017. A press release (English and Spanish) was also issued. The release contained information about the program and informed the public about the eligible case list that was posted online at www.yumacountyaz.gov/finereduction . The case list was alphabetized by defendant last name and contained the defendant name, case number, court, current case balance and reduced balance. Defendants were instructed to appear at the court associated with their case number to enter the program. The reduction amount was calculated using the Priority of Payments programmed into the AZTEC case management system. The lower priority receivables were suspended as part of the fine reduction and the highest priority receivables remained in the case. Any driver license holds associated with the case were lifted (if eligible). While FARE collections were suspended, cases remained in FARE even when on a payment plan to allow for the compilation of statistics on the amount of money receipted. Collection activities such as additional collection notices and phone calls were suspended on eligible cases during the program. DRAFT 3
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
At a December 16th meeting of the planning committee, members from the participating courts all felt that they would be able to handle the increased workload as a result of this program. The Judicial Assistance Unit agreed to provide assistance to courts as necessary. Arizona Motor Vehicles Division (MVD) was contacted by the AOC, was briefed on the program and confirmed its agreement to assist as needed. No changes to current MVD– court protocols were required during the program. Detailed data on delinquent cases at these courts prior to the Fine Reduction Program can be viewed in Appendix A.
Results from Fine Reduction Program
Taking into consideration the age of the cases, the collection efforts already underway at these courts and the large number of cases deemed “uncollectible” due to bad addresses, the amount collected during the program ($159,830) and the volume of cases closed (543) was deemed to be a success by the courts. The 803 cases in the program represent about 9.5% of the eligible cases and the money collected represents about 6.5% of the eligible collectible receivables (after the 50% discount). It appears that the program spurred some defendants to take care of their delinquent cases, even those who had never made payments on their cases or had not made payments for over 5 years. Data from Table 3 in Appendix A shows that 57% of the cases had no payments prior to the program start date and 13% of the cases had no payment in the 5 years prior to the program.
4
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Additional Program Benefits One additional, unanticipated program benefit is also noteworthy. The introduction of the program also prompted additional payments above and beyond the program. This may have been due to defendants with ineligible cases who came to the court upon hearing of the program, working with court staff to become reengaged with the court and making payments on their cases. Looking at a FARE Payment Comparison of the FRP time period compared to the same time period last year, there was an 82% increase in the number of payments and a 41% increase in the amount paid. When the FRP data is removed, there is still a 20% increase in the number of payments and a 3% increase in the total amount paid. In addition, during the program, at San Luis Municipal Court, the magistrate gave payment plans and license suspension releases to defendants who appeared in court, but were not eligible for the fine reduction program. This resulted in another 39 defendants having their license suspension lifted and being placed on payments plans. Over $8,000 in down payments were collected by the court. Additional program results can be seen in detail in Appendix B.
Program Costs The total costs to develop and implement the Fine Reduction Program was approximately $26,000. The FARE vendor, Conduent, spent $16,500 on notices and postage. The AOC expended approximately $9,600 on staffing and automation support.
Comparison to 2010 Flagstaff Pilot Collections Project In 2010, Flagstaff Municipal and Justice Courts participated in a similar project. The case criteria was similar to that of the Yuma County program (civil traffic cases, no DUI or restitution cases), with the exception that cases had been in FARE for more than 36 months. The Flagstaff project was also different in that participants were only given the option of paying the reduced amount in full; payment plans were not a possibility. The project ran from September 1st to December 30th, 2010. During that time, $62,915 was collected and 395 cases were closed. With the 2010 Flagstaff Project in mind, the Yuma County Fine Reduction Program was designed differently to test whether reducing the delinquency period from 36 to 24 months and offering payment plans would bring the program greater success. Based on the Yuma County program’s results, it appears that these expanded program parameters did, in fact, expand the pool of program participants and increase the amount collected.
DRAFT 5
Supreme Court of Arizona
Project 2010 Flagstaff Courts 2017 Yuma County
Administrative Office of the Courts
Eligible Cases 12,933 14,224
Collectible Discounted $1,235,289 $2,486,377
Cases Closed 395 543
% of Eligible Cases 3% 3.8%
Amount Collected $62,915 $159,830
% of Collectible Discounted 4.8% 6.4%
Ongoing Efforts to Enhance Compliance with Court Orders The AOC and Yuma County courts will continue to pursue endeavors which will increase enforcement of monetary court orders. Yuma County’s justice courts already utilize their Judicial Assistance Unit for handling FARE cases and cases on payment plans. The JAU continues to work with Superior Court’s IT Division to increase the number of auto-dialer campaigns so defendants are reminded on a regular basis about their payment plan due dates and other case elements such as future court dates and license status. Due to the success of the Fine Reduction Program press releases and webpage, a quarterly media campaign informing the public on how to resolve their cases is under consideration. The AOC is ready to assist as needed in the implementation of these efforts as the goal of enforcement of monetary court order enhances the public’s confidence in our judicial system.
Acknowledgements Successful projects are the results of staff commitment during the development and implementation phases. The AOC gratefully recognizes the efforts of the following individuals and thanks them for their assistance: Yuma County, the Superior Court of Yuma County and the limited jurisdiction courts of Yuma County: Presiding Judge Maria Elena Cruz, Kathy Schaben, Cesar Fazz, Kevin Tunnell, Reyna Curiel, Eloina Eustace, Margo Fasavalu, Angela Graddy, Judge Juan Guerrero, Yameli Holguin, Susan Northcutt, Andrea Ruiz, Minnie Samaniego, Nicholas Felber. Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts:
6
Supreme Court of Arizona
Administrative Office of the Courts
Don Jacobson, Candace Atkinson, Brittany Pelly, Adrian Soltero and Laura Ritenour, Heather Murphy, Kathir Velu, Sathya Muthusamy, Gene Stout, Rajesh Das, Sriman Dhamodharan, Pamela Peet and Anthony Shanks. Conduent: Kerri Rivers, Renee Johnson, Dale Cusack and Michael Sorkin.
DRAFT 7
