Innovative and Effective Approaches to Court Collections

transcript

July 14, 2011 National Association for Court ManagementAnnual Conference

Why is Collections Important? Judicial integrity Accountability of the court Accountability of the litigant Fiscal responsibility

Why is Collections Important? NACM 2010-2015 National Agenda

Sustaining excellence in difficult budget timesCourt budget shortfallsMaximizing appropriations

Enhancing public perceptions of the court and increasing community collaborationPublic trust and confidence

Why is Collections Important? Enforcing court-ordered financial

sanctions Judiciary’s credibility Judiciary’s responsibility

Judiciary’s Credibility

Courts must send the public a firm and consistent message that their orders will be enforced

Effective enforcement of court orders, including financial sanctions, will:Enhance the integrity and credibility of

the courts Increase respect for both the courts and

their orders

Judiciary’s Responsibility

To assure victims are made whole To share its burden of fiscal

responsibility; the fines, costs, and assessments that courts collect support: Law enforcement Libraries Crime victim’s rights fund Local governments

Elements for Improving Collections National Center for Victims of Crime

Five case studies on improving restitution collection

Shared important elements for improving collectionsLeadershipCommitmentOpenness to new thinking

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Disclaimer

Review your statutes/laws Review your court rules Review your administrative orders Review your judicial canons/ethical

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Is it necessary for judges to be

involved in collections? Leadership and commitment Cooperation and consistency

Judicial Acceptance of Collections What message does your court

send? Know your judge(s)

New judge or served a number of years Background One judge or multi-judge bench

Educate your judge(s)

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Judicial 3 D’s of Collections

Duty Dedication Diligence

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Duty

Every judge has the duty to enforce court orders and sanctions, if only because it enhances the integrity of the court and what you do

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Dedication

Every judge must specifically dedicate themselves to implementing an effective collections program in the proper discharge of their duties

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Diligence

Diligence requires that judges constantly monitor these efforts to assure that there is fair and efficient application of their mandates

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Defendant comes in to collections

and is $200 behind on payment plan Collections tries to work with him,

but he just keeps saying he can’t make his payments and only has $20 on him

What should the judge do?

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Judge puts defendant in jail and

while court officer is booking him, defendant pulls out over $600 and pays entire fine in full

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Defendant was on payment plan

before and failed to pay, so he was sentenced to jail

Next time he comes in, he says he will do whatever odd jobs he needs to so he can pay off his fine because he knows “the court ain’t messing around”

On the FLIP SIDE!

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Judge asks defendant if he can pay,

defendant says no, and judge sets up payment arrangements from the bench based on what defendant says This will always be a detriment to

collections Judge does not know the history of the

defendant as to collections

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Defendant tells judge he can’t pay

because he lost his job Judge orders defendant to start

making payments in 6 months Not sent to collections

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Two days later that same defendant

is sentenced to fines and costs by another judge

Sent to collections During interview by collections, he

says he’s had his job for 1 year and can pay this fine in full in a week

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Defendant tells judge she can’t pay

because she doesn’t have a job Judge orders collections to set up

$25 a month payment plan

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Collections interview reveals she’s

receiving state assistance and child support, and is working under the table

Defendant is capable of paying much more than judge ordered

Judges must let collections do their job!

Judicial Acceptance of Collections Defendants know they can mislead

judges and get away with it because judges don’t have the full financial picture

Collections Program Components1. Staff or staff time dedicated exclusively to

collections activities2. Enforcement of payment at time of assessment

and communication of the expectation of payment

3. Payment requirement on the day of assessment4. Financial statement information is verified and

evaluated to establish appropriate payment plan5. Payment alternatives are available for those who

do not have the ability to pay

Collections Program Components6. Litigants are closely monitored for compliance,

and actions are taken promptly after noncompliance

7. Submit required receivables and collections reports to the SCAO annually

8. Promptly and consistently use statutorily permitted graduated sanctions

9. Use of locator services10. Referral to outside agency for collections after

all in-house collections efforts are exhausted

Obstacles and Solutions

Lack of judicial and/or administrative leadership and commitment Increase awareness and keep collections

in the forefront with positive and increased visibility

Provide actual results (costs and revenues)

Focus on “compliance” and “enforcement” rather than “collections”

Lack of ownership by court staff Prioritize collectible accounts, decide

what to go after first, and implement one tool at a time rather than trying to do it all at once

Set realistic goals and share results and successes

Keep staff informed and involved

Inadequate staffing levels Demonstrate to funding unit that a

collections position will pay for itself Pursue legislation that restricts

revenue to fund collections, including staff

Consolidate collections efforts with other courts or funding unit

Third-party collectors

Technology limitations Third-party collections software Pursue legislation that restricts

revenue to fund collections, including development of collections software

Lack of data and reporting Develop and require standard reports Develop reports that measure results

for specific enforcement tools Evaluation methods

Pre-test/post-test studyControl group studyBenchmark or comparisonBaseline

Economy Educate defendants on where to cut

spending or how to prioritize spending Refer defendants to employment

agencies Offer payment alternatives, such as

community service

Lack of understanding Provide training seminars and

consultations with individual courts Create a collections website Collections training videos

Collections Training Videos

Help courts communicate the expectation of payment

Courtroom proceedings in district and circuit courts, including family divisions of circuit court Guilty pleas Sentencings Show cause hearings Probation violation hearings

Court collections department at work Judges and a court administrator

answering questions about their collections programs

Demonstrations of successful practices and practices to avoid

http://webcast.you-niversity.com/youtools/companies/scao/login.asp

Passcode (PIN number) is collect

Collections Training Videos36

Lessons Learned

Leadership and commitment will cause the necessary cultural change

Increase in compliance when implement effective collections tools

Increase in employee morale Provides offenders with sense of

ownership, accomplishment, and responsibility

Lessons Learned

Provide information to the court’s funding unit

Attend conferences and seminars Invite questions, comments, and complaints

from stakeholders Utilize collections software You don’t need a lot to start a collections

office Collections office should be in close

proximity to judges

Lessons Learned

Be consistent Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll

never get out of it alive. Elbert Hubbard – US author (1856 – 1915)

Contact Information

Judge John Hallacy 269-969-6908 jhallacy@calhouncountymi.gov

Beth Barber, Trial Court Collections Project Manager 517-373-5895 barberb@courts.mi.gov

Innovative and Effective Approaches to Court Collections

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