Cuyahoga County Demonstrates Progress in Collecting Delinquent Court Fines and Fees

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Media contacts:  
John O’Brien, 216-698-3396 or jfobrien@cuyahogacounty.us
Trevor McAleer, 216-698-6472, or tmcaleer@cuyahogacounty.us


CLEVELAND – In the first year of a program to collect delinquent court fines and fees, Cuyahoga County has recouped $721, 790.79.  In August 2012, the Cuyahoga County Council and Executive Ed FitzGerald jointly announced the program, designed to recover uncollected court costs, some of which dated back to 2002.  After a one-time amnesty period, Cuyahoga County turned over collection efforts to the Ohio Attorney General and two private firms with expertise in collections – NCO, a national company focusing on government collection of fees and Weltman Weinberg, a local law firm.  To date, the Ohio Attorney General has recovered $452,828.22; NCO, $148,228.99, and Weltman Weinberg, $120,733.58. Executive Ed FitzGerald, Council President C. Ellen Connally, Councilman Michael Gallagher, and Clerk of Courts Andrea F. Rocco led the efforts to collect the delinquent court costs in criminal, civil, and domestic cases. 

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald said “Our delinquency fines and fees collection is another example of how our Clerk of Courts continues to reform and modernize her office. The Amnesty program allowed those with delinquent court costs to make good on their obligations. If they did not, we took the steps necessary to collect what is owed to Cuyahoga County.”

“In this first year, we have collected almost ¾ of a million dollars owed to the County, which is a significant contribution to revenue for the Courts and the County,” said Council President Connally.

“This program is doing exactly what we expected it to do – bring in court fees and fines that should have been paid years ago,” added Councilman Gallagher.

Clerk of Courts Andrea F. Rocco said, “With the ongoing leadership of the County Executive and County Council, the Clerk of Courts’ office will continue to strive toward excellence. This includes the collection of delinquency fines and fees but also other initiatives such as distributing the public’s unapplied deposits and streamlining and digitizing our processes.”

Individuals can contact the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts at 216‐443‐7952 for more information about their delinquent accounts. 


  
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