Posted: 9/29/04

If you do the crime, you pay the fine?

Crime doesnít pay is an old saying just about everybody has heard. In most cases it is true but there comes a time in this world when you can do the crime, pay the fine, and, maybe, just save a few bucks.

Any reader of this newspaper has likely scanned the Traffic Court section of Vital Statistics. In it, the newspaper publishes court convictions from Washington County that land in the Forest Lake Division. Some people read this section religiously, eager to see if their neighbors have been heavy with the pedal or zipping through that stop sign on SW 12th Street or maybe using the right turn lane only on SW 3rd Ave. at SW 12th St. to beat eastbound traffic.

Itís not uncommon to see someone forking out $120 for a speeding ticket or failing to stop for a stop sign.

Paying the fine has seemed to fit the crime in most of these cases, but I must admit Iím glad itís not me that is writing the check or plopping down six $20 bills.

I can still feel the pain of that $25 parking ticket in Dinkytown in Minneapolis one perfect summer morning after a delicious breakfast at Alís. For only one more quarter in the meter..........

Oh, where was Washington County when I truly needed them.

After dutifully shelling out the $25 for my five minute parking meter lapse in Minneapolis, I felt I had completed my obligation for ìdoing the crime.î

If the parking slip had taken place in Washington County, even Forest Lake, I might have been able to catch a break.

Hereís how.

Earlier this month, the Washington County Court system announced a one-time fine payment reduction opportunity. This is the court administrationís method of encouraging citizens with outstanding fines to pay their fines, and at a savings.

A one-time 20 percent reduction for Washington County fines will be offered on Saturday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 9. You will have to pay the fine in person in Stillwater or by telephone with a credit card by calling 651-430-4434 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the two days. Mail-in payments donít qualify and restitution obligations are not eligible for the 20 percent reduction.

Someone facing a $1000 maximum base fine for a careless driving conviction could save $200. A conviction for failure to stop at a railroad crossing has a base fine of $100. Knock off another $20 and pay the $80 fine.

In theory the fine reduction plan is intended to lessen the number of outstanding debts and reduce the countyís cost of collection. The plan has the backing of the county department of community corrections, the court administration and Sheriff Jim Frankís office. County judges and local prosecutors also support the plan.

I know what would have happened had I not done the right thing and paid my parking ticket. Within a month or so there would have been an arrest warrant issued for failure to pay the fine. The next time I came in contact with a cop, I could well have been hauled to jail.

That should be incentive enough to pay a fine.

I have a buddy in Forest Lake who experienced the dark side of the legal system for no real fault of his own. He moved here from another state, sold a car and went about his life in Minnesota, the state where almost nothing is legal anymore.

Roughly a year after selling the car, he was involved in a car accident. The resulting police investigation found a warrant had been issued for his arrest. It had something to do with leaving a vehicle abandoned on a street in the south end of Washington County.

He had sold the car to a young fellow in Mahtomedi, the title had been transferred but the young man had neglected to put on the Minnesota license plates. When the car was ticketed for the parking violation, the out-of-state plates were still in the name of my friend.

The deputy who wrote the ticket neglected to take the initiative to follow up with the young man whose name appeared on the title card within the vehicle. It was just as easy to write the ticket and drop it in the system.

The offense went to court without my friendís knowledge and he was issued a fine. The warrant soon followed. After his accident he was issued a summons to appear in court on the year-old conviction.

What followed were two days off work, at his loss or use of vacation, four hours of sitting in a holding cell while his bail was processed and an appearance in court where he faced another fine and possibly jail time. Fortunately, the assistant county attorney prosecuting the case looked at the file and saw the mistakes of this ticket.

The conviction was dismissed and our new Forest Lake citizen was told the county was ìsorryî for its shoddy work. It took a month or so for the county to return the bail money he had posted to get out of jail.

You can be sure there was no 20 percent bonus paid for his time and trouble, just an old-fashioned apology for the hassle caused one law-abiding citizens.

Now we see the county is willing to reduce fines by 20 percent to those who have committed violations.

It makes people wonder how fairly the judicial system operates.

An innocent fellow who does nothing wrong is dragged through the system and given an apology for his time and trouble and gets his money returned when the county is ready and willing. A convicted violator is told to pay a $100 fine, but subtract a ìJacksonî because the county feels benevolent and wants to see the fine paid.

Thatís little consolation for my parking fine, of course, and my friendís ordeal. He is left to wonder: ìWhatís up with that?î

I tried to console him.

At least they didnít expect him to pay a fee for the time he sat in the cooler. He didnít get supper, either, but thatís probably good because he no doubt would have had to pay for it.

And they wouldnít have knocked off 20 percent, either.

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