COLLECTION OF UNPAID COURT COSTS, FINES NOW UP TO $56,000

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993                   TAG: 9303090080
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-7   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short
COLLECTION OF UNPAID COURT COSTS, FINES NOW UP TO $56,000
The Montgomery County commonwealth's attorney's office and a local credit bureau have collected more than $56,000 in unpaid court fines and costs since Sept. 1.
Phil Keith, commonwealth's attorney, said state law calls for clerks to report unpaid fines and costs and for prosecutors to attempt to collect them.
In September, Keith contracted with Credit Bureau Services of Virginia in Christiansburg to collect unpaid fines and costs from the two lower courts, Juvenile and Domestic Relations and General District Court.
As of last week, $56,593 had been collected of more than $300,000 that has been owed since Jan. 1, 1990.
Keith said his office and the Circuit Court clerk hope to make a similar arrangement soon.
The credit bureau receives a third of the money collected and the remaining two-thirds goes into the state fund, Keith said.
The bureau uses proper collection methods such as calling, writing and garnisheeing wages when necessary.
"Most people who have been contacted pay up . . . in a fairly short period of time," Keith said, and there have been few cases where garnishments were necessary.
Bob Breen, senior vice president at Credit Bureau Services, said most of the fines were in the $35 to $50 range.
The collections bureau of the credit bureau has the capacity to reach up to 1,200 people per hour, Breen said. The agency also operates from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., giving them the advantage of being able to reach people after 5 p.m., when courthouses are closed but most people are just getting home.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB