Crockett council hires Linebarger for court collections, authorizes 30% contingency fee and ends prior contract

The City Council of Crockett, Texas, voted to contract with Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson for delinquent municipal-court fines and fees, approved a resolution authorizing a 30% contingency collection fee, authorized execution of the contract and terminated the city's prior collections contract.

City staff introduced the proposal at the meeting, and attorney James Guest, representing Linebarger, told the council the program would cost the city nothing upfront. "You will never be out any money for this project," Guest said, and described automated data-transfer software and statewide skip-tracing and outreach tools intended to increase recoveries.

The council adopted four related actions in sequence: approval of a contingency-fee contract with Linebarger, a resolution authorizing the 30% fee, authorization to execute the city contract with Linebarger, and termination of the prior contract with Purdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott LLP. Council members made and seconded each motion; for each the clerk called for the vote and the mayor declared the motion carried. The meeting record does not show a roll-call vote or named tallies.

Why it matters: City officials said the change aims to increase collections of out-of-area and delinquent accounts while reducing staff time. Guest said the firm's technology automates transfers from the city's case software and that Linebarger's contingency fee structure will not require the city to pay out of pocket for collections services. He added the firm would waive fees for indigent defendants at the judge's discretion and would not add collection fees to utility accounts (water utility collections would be pursued at no fee to the city, per the firm's offer).

Details and council discussion: Guest said Linebarger has experience with similar Texas cities and that the firm can add a "Linebarger module" to the city's Tower Technology case software; the firm will cover the module cost. Guest said he typically expects a 30-to-45 day start-up turnaround after the module and account setup but recommended staggering mailings to avoid overwhelming court staff. When asked about prior-year collection totals, Guest said the city had received about $10,000 in collections since September 2024 under the current vendor, and he said the city's unpaid water-utility accounts remain "in the 70,000 to 90,000 dollar range."

The council motion package included implementation steps the council must approve: the contingency-fee contract, the enabling resolution allowing a 30% fee to be added under applicable criminal-procedure authority, execution of the contract, and termination of the prior contract. The agenda and meeting record indicate the council approved each step by motion and the mayor declared each motion carried; the record does not include an itemized roll-call of yes/no votes.

Quotes: "You will never be out any money for this project," James Guest said of Linebarger's contingency-fee program. "The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows us to add 30% directly to their bill," he added while explaining the legal basis for adding the collection fee to eligible criminal fines and fees.

Next steps: City staff will finalize the contract with Linebarger and coordinate the software module installation and staggered mailing plan. The council also voted to end the existing contract with Purdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott LLP as part of the package.

Ending note: Council members discussed the need to balance collections with options for indigent defendants; Guest said judges retain discretion to waive the contractor's fee in cases of indigence or when community service/time served are appropriate.