E-ticket Deal Still Under Consideration In Craighead County

The table was filled with city and county officials Tuesday (Oct. 13) as a deal between officials on a solution for district court funding remains on the table for now. Officials in Craighead County have been working on a solution for nearly two years on the issue, especially dealing with electronic tickets.

County Judge Ed Hill said an agreement on Craighead County receiving 5% of the funding from electronic or Arkansas State Police tickets, with cities receiving the rest, fell through. The 5% would be based before expenses were taken out, officials said. By the end of the day city and county officials agreed to a plan in which 5% goes to the county and cities retain 95% before expenses.

Administrative Assistant Tony Thomas said that prior to e-tickets, state troopers made the decision on where the ticket was sent and to which district court.

The discussion has centered around where the money was going, expenses to operate district court and whether each were related. Added to the discussion is where a ticket was given and added paperwork for district courts and the cities, officials said at the meeting. However, Thomas said the main issue involves who gets the funding.

“Right now, it is share versus winner take all. And it is winner take all now,” Thomas said.

The following info from the Jonesboro city finance department is a breakdown of funding losses due to E-tickets since 2014.
• Bay: $17,491.31
• Bono: $32,280.64
• Brookland: $17,626.21
• Egypt: $634.30
• Jonesboro: $358,592.26

Thomas said any agreement should be comprehensive, with the agreement providing specific details on the funding set up. Keith Caveness, with the Administrative Office of the Courts, said there are several factors determine court costs, including city ordinances that are not collected on the county level, jail fees on the county level or a DWI fee set by state law. The funds are divided out, based on what is owed on the state, county or city level.

While there is not an exact amount on what is owed to the cities, the city of Jonesboro could receive up to $1 million minus expenses in a typical year. Thomas said the county could develop the agreement, due to the district court being under county administration. Any proposed agreement would have to be approved by each town’s city council.

AG OPINION SOUGHT
Reps. Dwight Tosh, R-Jonesboro, Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, and Jack Ladyman, R-Jonesboro asked for an attorney general’s opinion earlier this year on the issue.

In the Sept. 21 opinion from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Rutledge said the use of electronic tickets does not change the way fines are distributed among cities. However, cities do have a right to receive funding in some circumstances.

“In my opinion, a city or town that has a police department but does not operate a district court is entitled to receive a prorated share of revenue deriving from certain offenses that occur within its corporate limits if two conditions are met,” Rutledge said. “First, the city must enter into a written agreement to contribute a prorated share to the operating expenses of the nearest district court in its county. Second, the city must actually contribute its prorated share of operating expenses of the district court.”

The opinion also asked Rutledge “If Craighead County has not distributed funds to cities for fines, fees, penalties and costs. … Does the county owe these funds to said city back to the date the county refused to distribute said funds?”

Rutledge said the answer was contingent on whether or not a written agreement was in place.

Officials are hopeful to have a resolution by the end of the year.