PORTLAND (AP) – Court officials, facing a state budget crisis and looking to send a message to scofflaws, have stepped up their efforts to collect unpaid fines.

Mainers at any given time owe roughly $10 million in fines to the state courts, for offenses that range from jaywalking to violent assault. About one-third of that total is more than three years overdue, and another third is between 30 days and three years overdue.

“We are making a much more concerted effort to get those fines paid,” said Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. “If we are not vigilant, we can leave the impression that it is not as serious as it is.”

The judicial branch created the position of collections coordinator in 2006 and followed up by hiring temporary workers to issue collections letters and process arrest warrants for delinquent accounts.

“It is very difficult to find the time to go back after these people,” said state court administrator Ted Glessner. “Bringing in temporary help, that was the only way this was ever going to happen.”

The courts have collected about $40 million in fines in each of the past two years, and revenue is up about $1 million over projections for this year. Fines go into the state’s general fund, not the budget for the judiciary.

Saufley said the Legislature has set a high priority on the fines collection program, but she noted that justice, not money, is the biggest driver of the crackdown.

“It must be a priority because a fine is often the sentence in a criminal case,” she said. “Fines are not at the same level as your credit card bill. If you don’t pay a fine, you may find yourself losing your liberty.”

Portland District Court, the busiest court in Maine, has issued 587 arrest warrants for fines totaling $267,000 since additional help arrived in October to beef up the collections effort.

At the Cumberland County Jail, longtime bail commissioner William Gorham said the crackdown is obvious.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the volume that we are looking at right now, in terms of the warrants on unpaid fines,” Gorham said. “There has just been an incredible amount of people coming into jail.”

Friends and relatives often come up with the money to pay the fine and get a person out of jail, Gorham said, while others usually agree to a new payment plan once they appear before a judge.

“We don’t have debtors’ prisons,” he said. Judges are generally sympathetic to people who cannot afford to pay, and they are flexible in ordering a repayment plan that is manageable, he said.

Rep. Richard Cleary, D-Houlton, has proposed legislation to allow judges to order community service in cases where a person is unable to pay. The measure won unanimous support last week won unanimous committee support and will move on for debate in the full House and Senate.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-01-28-08 1053EST

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