Florida lawmakers push to change handling of traffic fines

Residents who can't afford to pay traffic tickets have ended up jailed

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida lawmakers are pushing to chance the way fines are handled as tens of thousands of residents who can't afford to pay traffic tickets have ended up jailed on felony charges.

Experts estimate the courts would lose $24 million per year if 15 percent more people stop paying fines. The clerks say that money needs to be made up by lawmakers if the legislation becomes law.

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Lawmakers say people who can't pay tickets from traffic stops have their license suspended, but they drive anyway and end up in jail. Public Defender Nancy Daniels said she sees this type of case almost every day.

"Every day, at first appear, you see the people who have been arrested for this," Daniels said. "Now, they are entitled to a bond, but because they are so poor, they can’t pay the bond even. So they sit in jail and then we rack up jail costs for this too."

More than 800,000 Floridians had their license suspended last year for not paying a fine. Another 600,000 lost their driving privileges for other offenses like under-age smoking or drinking, theft or defacing a building.

"We suspend one point four million driver's licenses in the state of Florida in any given year, and eighty percent of those are for the inability to pay fines or fees," said Sen. Jeff Brandes.

Brandes said he wants to stop suspending so many licenses. Opponents say without a suspension, there's no incentive to pay a fine.

"If you take that tool away, to some extent, what does a court order mean anymore?" said Bob Inzer of the Leon County Clerk of Courts. "Because really it becomes voluntary whether you pay or not."

The legislation also requires the courts to work on payment plans that don’t exceed 2 percent of a person's monthly income.