Texas city to hire agency to collect fines, fees

With more than $16 million in delinquent debt, the city of Arlington, TX, according to a story in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, is planning on hiring a private collection agency to help it recoup some of its losses. The agency will help the Arlington Municipal Court collect on fines.

“These fines are imposed for breaking the law. If they are not paying the fines, they are not being punished,” Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wright told the Star Telegram. “We want people to know if they violate the law in Arlington, they will be punished and we will go after them to collect.”

The city hopes to contract with Texas-based Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson ? and agency it has used since 1990 in collecting delinquent property tax. The program will also not cost the city of Arlington any money at all; each Class C misdemeanor fine will have a state-sanctioned court fee attached.