Cumberland County court collections unit reports $4.4 million collected and $67.2 million owed in 2024

Cumberland County court collections staff reported to the County Finance meeting that the county’s court collections unit collected $4,425,747 in 2024 while total accounts receivable on county dockets stood at $67,193,271.

Toy Smith, a staff member in the county court collections unit, told commissioners the unit’s work returned $1,809,515 toward restitution in 2024 and that the Clerk of Courts dispersed $5,488,196 overall: $1,036,507 to the state, $3,172,120 to the county, $185,696 to municipalities, $999,098 to restitution and about $870,000 to other recipients such as prothonotary collections and agencies. "We are paid in full by April 6," Smith said, referring to the point in the year when collections exceeded the unit’s operating and related processing costs.

The report included detailed age-of-account data showing consistent collection performance over five years: roughly 64–65% of receivables collected within 0–90 days, 29–30% collected after 91-plus days, and the remaining accounts categorized as no payment. Smith reported that $42,888,105 of the total was collected within the first 90 days in 2024. The unit itself recovered $4,425,747 in fines, fees and restitution; of that amount $1,809,515 was restitution.

Smith summarized enforcement tools and activity for 2024:…