Laptops to upgrade fine, fees collection for county

Hidalgo County deputy constables will soon be equipped with laptops, wireless Internet cards and other technology to aid their operations in the county’s ongoing effort to improve collection of delinquent fines and fees.

County commissioners agreed to supply the technology for the deputy constables, many of whom lacked basic equipment like laptops or working radios, leading a commissioner to say last year that they appeared to be working in the Stone Age.

The county will purchase up to $277,000 worth of equipment from funds accrued by a $4 fee tacked onto all misdemeanor offenses at its justice of the peace courts.

Only one deputy in the Precinct 4 Constable’s office was equipped last year with a laptop computer, using it to collect warrants totaling more than $600,000, easily the most in his office. Although that deputy’s chief responsibility was to serve warrants, his efficiency was evidence of the benefits of proper technology, said Precinct 4 Constable Eddie Guerra.

“We just want to work smarter,” Guerra said. “With the technology the way it is today, that deputy is going to be able to have real-time information. Now, he’ll be able to do his work in the patrol car rather than the office.”

The county launched its Operation: Clean Slate program in September in a bid to collect more than $35 million in outstanding fines and fees. The county has collected more than $400,000 from scofflaws since the program’s inception with a public outreach campaign that later shifted toward an enforcement phase.

But inadequate technology handicaps deputy constables from serving warrants and collecting fines and fees while out on the road. The new equipment will allow deputies to log into the county’s criminal justice system, AbleTerm, during their daily routines.

The equipment will be purchased from its justice court technology fund, a statutorily authorized revenue account that allows counties to buy or maintain computer systems and hardware using the $4 fees tacked on to all misdemeanor offenses. Although the fund is intended for the justice of the peace, the Texas Attorney General’s Office has found the technology can be purchased for constables as long as it enhances the court’s operations.

Constables are fully authorized peace officers whose primary responsibility is to serve court papers and act as a bailiff for the justice of the peace.

Using the new laptops and wireless cards, deputy constables could quickly update or search the county’s databases after encountering a wrong address when serving someone with outstanding warrants. Among other options to improve efficiency, the county also could purchase GPS technology that shows deputies the quickest routes when they want to find multiple scofflaws.

A single deputy constable out of 14 employed in Precinct 4 has a laptop in his patrol car, an option available to most police officers or sheriff’s deputies. Guerra said about half of his deputies could be equipped with the technology to improve collection of warrants.

“When you have a uniformed officer show up at your door, either you pay or you’re going to jail,” Guerra said. “I would say most of the time, people are going to pay.”

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and legislative issues for The Monitor. He can be reached at jjanes@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4424.

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