Marshall County approves up to $10,000 to ready old records for collections effort

The Marshall County Council voted to authorize up to $10,000 to bring a former employee into the clerk’s office to prepare historical traffic and fine records for submission to a collections vendor.

County officials said the clerk’s office has about $285,000 in outstanding fines, penalties and late fees going back into prior years; the clerk asked the council to authorize one-time funds to extract and format records in the county’s case-management software so a collections firm could pursue payment. The plan would not use the clerk’s record-perpetuation fund, and any new collections would be returned to the general fund.

County Attorney remarks and council discussion noted prior efforts to collect some of the same debts and that some judgments may have already been pursued in prior years. Supporters said judgments and liens can surface when a resident attempts to buy a home or refinance and that recovering even part of the outstanding amount would net the county more revenue than the one-time expense. Dissenters urged caution given past collection attempts; the council approved the funding on a voice vote.

The council directed the clerk to work with the proposed collection vendor, Capital Recovery, and said the clerk will attempt to minimize the initial cost. The clerk’s office plans to send records from 2013–2023 where time limits permit; 2024 cases were not included because statute of limitations or timing constraints had not yet lapsed, the clerk said.