Archive for the “Credit Cards” Category
With enhanced revenue collection the name of the game nowadays as a means to lessen the impact of budget cuts, I offer this discussion about an interesting concept called the Court Compliance Office that I implemented as a court administrator in the then-South Bay Municipal Court in Torrance, CA.
CLICK HERE to download a copy of the Court Compliance Office Report for more details, but here is a quick rundown …
Unclog post disposition criminal court calendars by delegating routine tasks to the clerks’ office instead of in the courtroom. These could include allowing defendants to convert community service into a fine (and vice versa), giving extensions for fine payment, and re-referring defendants to specialized programs such as drinking driver treatment programs. The trick is to have a clear understanding among the judges as to what specific tasks the clerks are allowed to perform, and aligning these tasks with the particular operating desires of individual judges.
A court colleague was recently assigned management duties for a new court compliance office and asked for my advice. Here is my reply:
- Be sure to take credit cards, across the counter, online and by automated interactive phone service (IVR). The bottom line is to make it easy for your customers to comply.
- Use skip trace services to refresh addresses and work accounts before you turn them over to a collection agency. There are third party providers who do a good job of this, and I would also recommend using www.Revq.com for your accounts receivable software. It’s cost effective and has a ton of third party providers, such as skip trace, notice generation, etc.
- IMMEDIATELY at the time of sentencing, route the defendants through your compliance office for a financial evaluation and to debrief them on what just occurred at sentencing and what is expected to comply. This will require that court clerks docket sentencing real time so your staff can see the terms and conditions, but the trade off is worth it.
- Partner with local hospitals and city/county services to “packet” accounts receivable. If someone owes you, they may also owe the hospitals, city, etc. Ventura County (CA) Superior Court used to do this very effectively.
- Work with your judges to build trust in the effectiveness of the Court Compliance Office so that eventually the judge will sentence and give you one year to gain full compliance for fines and other conditions. If a defendant violates in the interim, the judge gets them back, otherwise you keep and work with them for up to one year without judicial intervention. If you can’t get compliance in one year, then give them back to the court for ultimate disposition (i.e., jail).
Admittedly, the Court Compliance Office model works best in limited jurisdiction courts handling infractions and misdemeanors; however, we are increasingly seeing post disposition matters eat judicial calendar time and effective strategies are needed to move these matters out of the court. This is especially true if rulings and outcomes are routine and predictable.
My staff and I are proud to have won the California Administrative Office of the Courts’ prestigious Ralph Kleps Award for judicial innovation for this program back in 1994. I left that year to end a 21-year career as a public sector court manager and embark on a private sector career as a court management consultant. It was great to make the transition on a high note !!
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = Microsoft clip art
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Times are tough and people are getting cranky with the current economic meltdown. In the courts community, several groups are trying to step up to the plate and help, but the vice keeps getting tighter and tempers are flaring. Here are a few examples of what we’re doing well, and what we’re not doing so well …
THE GOOD
Let’s start with the National Center for State Courts’ Budget Resource Center where various court budget programs and impacts are available under one roof. This is a terrific way for courts to learn from one another and get a reality check. According to a recent survey conducted by the Center:
- 28 state courts have imposed hiring freezes
- 13 state courts have frozen salaries
- Seven states have encouraged judges and staff to accept salary reductions – or have imposed salary reductions
- Six states have mandated furloughs of court staff
- Six states have reduced court hours
The National Association for Court Management has also stepped up to the plate, with several budget-related publication articles and educational programs at recent conferences.
THE BAD
Let’s start with California, where everything seems to be bigger and more dramatic than the rest of the country. Although the Governator and legislature only yesterday closed a $26 billion budget deficit, the pain of the resulting cuts are felt at every level of government including the courts. With some exceptions, the California Judicial Council has been handed the amount of cuts and asked to deal with it in their own discretion. The biggest solution has been a mandatory closing of courts statewide at least one day per month. Recently, the judges in the Sacramento Superior Court took exception with this decision and challenged the Administrative Office of the Courts to come up with less onerous choices.
In Iowa, the state handed the judiciary a flat figure cut and the internal choice was to lay-off 13 court reporters. While this may seem to some as a reasonable reaction, it was done without consideration of the myriad of policy and fiscal impacts that such a move imposes on the local courts, and several judges are formally opposing the decision. It is interesting to note that the California Governor suggested a similar move, which was rejected by the courts. The situation is even more tenuous in Iowa where court reporters also serve as administrative assistants to the judges in rural jurisdictions.
UPDATE: The Iowa Courts communications office provided additional information on how they are deadling with the budget cuts.
WHAT TO DO
We’ve written about this before and although today’s situation may be more pronounced, the solutions are largely unchanged … courts have to cut expenses AND raise revenue. Limited jurisdiction courts are in a better position to raise revenues with traffic and misdemeanor fine collection options, but court systems as a whole can leverage statewide collection strategies that have the potential to raise a staggering amount of new revenue. And for gosh sakes, if credit cards are not part of this mix, make them a part of it.
As for cuts, this is the area where the most contention is bubbling … look to the Trial Court Performance Standards and concentrate on what courts SHOULD be doing, to wit, providing access to justice, being expeditious and timely, being equal and fair with integrity, and exhibiting independence with accountability. Together, these activities translate into public trust and confidence.
So does closing courts to save money promote access to justice? Arguably, no. And those who content that websites provide reasonable access, I would counter-argue that most court websites are woefully inadequate and even those that have good websites cannot mitigate the digital divide, which disenfranchises the poor and illiterate. Would furloughing judges and staff on rolling days accomplish the same savings? Not quite, but probably close enough to count.
Does firing court reporters yield savings? Arguably, no. Even if one assumes that tape recorders are cheaper to operate, firing court reporters will often require severance pay and purchase/installation of electronic recording equipment cost plenty in the front end. As to the alleged long term savings, court reporters working in high volume transcript courts are much more cost effective in terms of judicial productivity, lawyer productivity and transcript production costs. This is especially true when a Realtime record is provided. Finally, most experts recommend a dedicated electronic recording monitor, which is a budgeted position adding to payroll costs.
I fully appreciate that those sitting on the sidelines have the luxury of armchair quarterbacking these touchy issues, but we have to start this dialogue somewhere. The art and practice of court management are not to merely achieve efficiency and cost effectiveness … they are supposed to produce justice. Let’s keep our eye on the ball and get through this with our integrity intact.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = Discovery Education
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Despite the economic downturn, I’m not one to say good riddance to 2008, but the New Year is a great time to sum up your accomplishments for the year and set a few goals for the next 12 months. Here’s my assessment of where we’ve been and where we’re going …
The good
The national elections are over and the nation is optimistic about the future. Regardless of who you voted for, we should all get behind the new administration and do what we can to improve our lives.
Professionally, we have strong leadership at the National Center for State Courts, National Association for Court Management, IJIS Institute, FACT and local court-related professional associations. This backbone will help us navigate the changes ahead while keeping true to our core purposes, values and mission.
What lies ahead
Let’s make a pledge to pay attention to caseflow management, and if your court hasn’t already done so, begin to implement some of the CourTools in an effort to measure court performance.
Improve court operations by outsourcing silly activities such as data entry and notice generation, and increase revenue by taking credit cards, cleaning up delinquent accounts and enforcing compliance with court orders.
Reflection
To those of you who track this blog, thanks for your patronage. Make it a goal to post more comments and get involved in the dialogue.
I wish you good health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year!!
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = GlitterGraphicsNow.com
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At the risk of getting political, everyone seems to be seeking a bailout nowadays. Government budgets are taking a major beating, and shortfalls flow downhill to the courts where across the board budget cuts seem to be the order of the day. What’s a court leader to do? Here are a few tips …
But before we go to the solutions, let’s look at some of the effects of court budget cuts so far:
– The New Hampshire courts are suspending jury trials.
– The 19th Circuit Court in Illinois is cutting probation services, which in turn fills jail cells and jeopardizes public safety.
– Plymouth County, Massachusetts is selling its historic courthouse.
– The revered self-help center in Maricopa County (AZ) Superior Court is charging for information packets to pro se litigants.
– They even closed the cafeteria at the Kitsap County Courthouse in Washington State.
A tip of the hat to the National Center for State Court’s Jur-E Bulletin and my favorite court blog Court-o-rama for these examples.
Before things get even uglier out there, what can be done to stem the flow of red ink? Budget basics are these … you either cut expenses, raise revenue or both (preferably both). Let’s look at both of these opportunities:
CUTTING EXPENSES
Personnel costs are the largest in any budget, so letting vacancies go unfilled produces the biggest savings. With any luck, you can avoid layoffs; these can have a lasting negative affect on employee morale for those left behind who must then work even harder. On the supply side, I used to load up on postage and paper, then cut most other purchases for as long as possible. I figured as long as I could print and mail notices, I could still operate. Obviously, putting off big ticket purchases such as copy machines and furniture is a must.
RAISING REVENUE
This was my specialty … first, accept credit cards; this is a fast and easy way to spike revenue and accelerate compliance, thereby closing cases and freeing up shelf space. Next, look for ways to recover costs, such as indigent defense cost repayment, recovery of civil fees from government agencies that prevail in their lawsuits (most courts waive civil fees for government agencies), charging of costs for recalling warrants or forfeiting bail, and collection of overdue fines/fees.
Each of these cost cutting and revenue raising strategies requires management and courage. Court staff will usually rise to the challenge if you demonstrate that you are taking affirmative action to address budget shortfalls head on. Ask staff to make suggestions about what to eliminate in terms of procedures and tasks. Doing more with less is not possible … doing less with less is possible (and preferable).
So instead of looking for a handout, look for a hand-up by showing your funding authorities that you are taking the budget crisis seriously. You’ll then likely be first in line when the purse strings start to loosen.
Ka-ching !!
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = Barry Maguire / Newsart.com
2 Comments »
I’m ashamed to say that my blood gets up when court managers start to talk about accepting credit cards with the narrow view that related fees in some way preclude their feasibility. In fact, the business advantages of accepting credit cards are almost too countless to name. Only government agencies and courts would be shortsighted enough to question the return on this investment, usually basing this decision solely on the credit card fees (technically called the discount rate, around 2-3%).
Let’s do a quick run-through of the compelling reasons why courts should encourage credit card acceptance:
1) It costs to take cash and checks – yes, even cash. Having two clerks count cash as a safeguard, accounting staff, safes, cash registers, armed courier service, cameras, checks-and-balances, and returned check processing all cost money. All told, these costs are the same or more than the credit card fee.
2) Credit cards open up a whole spectrum of access to justice - through interactive voice response systems, website payments, e-filing, and kiosks that would not be otherwise available. Think about the wear and tear on court facilities that could be reduced, as well as the obvious customer service benefits.
3) Forecasts that people would abuse credit cards to pay for groceries didn’t occur - Why? Because people tend to budget for groceries. They don’t budget for fines, so they are more likely to pay these unexpected bills via credit card to retire the debt on time payments. Would you rather manage these time payments with court staff, or outsource it to MasterCard or Visa?
4) It costs to keep cases open - early case closure by accelerated credit card payment is a cost benefit to the court.
5) A Garner study showed a cost savings of $3.25 per electronic transaction using credit cards - as compared to a cash or check transaction in person. This cost analysis considered staff and paper flow.
Those courts accepting credit cards see an initial spike in compliance with fine payments. Convenience, alone, is a reason to accept them to make payment of civil filings easier on attorneys.
So stand firm on this issue for the variety of solid business-case reasons stated above. And for gosh sake, don’t try to charge a “user fee” to those using credit cards. Technically, Visa and MasterCard won’t allow the fee when it comes to face-to-face transactions, but will allow them for telephone or web payments. Adding a fee still begs the bigger issue … we should encourage the use of credit cards to accelerate compliance.
Thanks, I feel better now (stepping off of soapbox).
Chris Crawford
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