Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Traffic Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lake Forest Park judge reduces dozens of photo-enforcement fines, sets payment deadlines
Summary
At the Lake Forest Park Municipal Court mitigation calendar on Jan. 21, 2025, the judge reduced multiple photo-enforced school-zone and red-light infractions to lower fines or dismissed duplicate charges, and set payment schedules for defendants.
A Lake Forest Park Municipal Court judge reduced fines or entered deferred findings for multiple drivers who appeared for mitigation on Jan. 21, 2025.
Most people who chose mitigation—an admission with explanation—were offered reduced fines and a payment deadline. The court routinely reduced photo-enforcement school-zone and some red-light infractions to $75 (committed findings) and set a standard payment due date of March 20, 2025, unless otherwise noted. For at least one pair of back-to-back infractions the judge dismissed one and required payment on the other.
Why it matters: automated camera enforcement has been the subject of repeated questions from drivers in Lake Forest Park. The court’s decisions on mitigation hearings determine whether an infraction becomes a committed finding, whether it is deferred, and what financial obligations follow—outcomes that affect drivers’ records and insurance status.
Most common dispositions
- Clinton Clark: mitigation accepted; infraction reduced to a $75 committed fine. Other older citations for Clark remain unresolved; clerk advised Clark to come to the courthouse to address those matters. Payment due March 20, 2025.
- Mary Cranny: mitigation accepted; fine reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025.
- Therese Derzay: mitigation accepted; fine reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025.
- Jerry Hanson: mitigation accepted; fine reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025.
- Kimmy Ingalls: mitigation accepted; fine reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025. Judge noted these automated school-zone citations are not eligible for deferral (they do not go on driving records as moving violations).
- Scott McGinnis: two photo-enforcement citations from Oct. and Nov. 2024. The judge dismissed the cause ending in 5325 and entered a committed finding on cause 4124 for $145. McGinnis and the court agreed to split payment into two installments, with the first due March 20, 2025, and the second due in April 2025 (exact April date not specified on the record).
- Borakarn Sung Pachako: mitigation accepted; fine reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025.
- Additional mitigation outcomes (reduced to $75, payment due March 20, 2025): Phyllis Tally; Junior Penn; a defendant identified as Katrina (cause number 240238148); and others who appeared on the mitigation calendar.
Higher fines retained or committed findings
- Karen Giesen: red-light photo-enforcement citation described on the record as a “drastic” red-light run; the judge entered a committed finding and maintained the $145 fine, with payment due March 20, 2025.
Court process and logistics
Clerk and judge repeatedly told defendants they would receive mailed paperwork explaining payment options and, in some cases, options to come to the window to request a hearing or submit good-cause forms for older, late citations. The court gave standard 30-day payment flexibility for many mitigation dispositions.
The judge cautioned drivers to slow earlier in segments where posted speeds change quickly (for example, from 30 mph to 25 mph) and reiterated that Lake Forest Park’s school-walk-zone rules are posted on the city website and on the police department page for photo enforcement.
Ending
Defendants who had additional or older citations were instructed to visit the courthouse window or contact the clerk for case lookups; the clerk also advised that some mailed notices had been returned and that address issues may require in-person follow-up.
