Court looks to step up collections

PHARR - If you owe money to the municipal court, be warned: you might soon get a knock on your door.

The city has placed a newfound emphasis on collecting delinquent payments for its citations, and it is seeking to recover millions it is owed.

After seeing steady growth in citation collections for several years, "something happened" last year and the growth stopped, explained municipal court administrator Ernesto Ayala.

The court is projected to turn the tide this year, and city officials are hoping that the court will collect even more money next year.

"We're going to have to press a little," Ayala said. "We're going to knock on doors and say ‘Listen, there's a warrant for your arrest. If you don't want to go to jail, we'd recommend you come in and pay.'"

The city recently made Municipal Judge Rodolfo Martinez a full-time city employee, who will be tasked with administrative duties in addition to functioning as a judge.

Martinez said the city will also hire a court officer within a few weeks who will start calling and visiting people who have outstanding citations.

"We have a lot of cases that are pending... the people just never showed up," said Martinez.

Municipal courts handle traffic citations, violations of city ordinances and Class C misdemeanors, such as public intoxication and misdemeanor assaults.

Ayala said the city is owed $6.9 million in unpaid citations from October 2001 through September 2007. An additional $2.2 million in state citations is also owed within Pharr.

"We need this money to operate the city," Ayala said.

Last year, Ayala said, if someone failed to appear at court and pay a citation, "nothing happens... they weren't following through."

City Manager Fred Sandoval brought Ayala to the court last fall to try to increase the court's revenue.

Ayala and Martinez stressed that the city's goal is to collect the payments and not arrest people.

The municipal court is actively seeking to collect unpaid citations issued this fiscal year, and a lawyer based in Alton has contracted with the city to try to collect the unpaid citations from last year.

Older citations, Ayala said, are unlikely to ever be collected, due to the difficulty locating offenders.

"We need to press hard on people, make an effort, scare them a little so they can come in and pay," Ayala said.

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Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.