PORT ANGELES — People who owe District Court No. 1 fines now will pay a private Seattle-area company instead of Clallam County at no additional cost if they pay on schedule.
“The defendants won’t pay any more money even though this company is doing the work for us,” said District Court Judge John Doherty.
Under the plan approved by the county commissioners Tuesday, OSI Collection Services Inc. of Tukwila immediately will begin collecting and tracking the fines imposed by Doherty.
The switch will help the court absorb the loss of one county employee to budget cuts, the judge said.
The collection company will make its money by charging 33 percent interest on the unpaid principal of accounts that go to collections, said District Court No. 1 Administrator Steve Brown. State law allows a maximum of 50 percent.
It will be the first such program in the state where a private company collects court fines without charging extra fees, he said.
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The rest of this story appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
