Tulsa Owed More Than $3.8 Million In Uncollected Citations

By Craig Day, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- The Tulsa City Council wants to know why the city has $3.8 million in uncollected citations. The topic came up during a discussion of budget items, as the city of Tulsa searches for ways to cut expenses and increase income.

The Municipal Court processes both traffic and criminal citations. The city council staff determined Tulsa has $3,582,556 in outstanding traffic fines and $262,189 in outstanding criminal fines.

The city of Tulsa issued $27 million in traffic tickets over the last three calendar years and $1.4 million in criminal fines.

Tulsa City Councilor Bill Christiansen has asked that court representatives appear before the council in two weeks to discuss the outstanding fines. He also asked why there is so much uncollected money.

"To me it is unacceptable and it's no way to run the railroad," said Bill Christiansen, Tulsa City Councilor.

Christiansen wants to look at ways of tweaking the system to bring in more money. But collecting is easier said than done. Municipal Court Administrator Tony Cellino says some people who owe the city, have died or moved.

"Misdemeanor warrants, you don't put them on NCIC. We're not going to extradite people if they are stopped in another state, or another city for that matter, because it is a municipal warrant. So you have to catch them here in the city of Tulsa," said Tony Cellino, City Court Administrator.

The city has stepped up collection efforts, using three collection companies which get a 15 to 20 percent cut. 

Now, a new state law allows collectors to tack on up to 35 percent of what's owed, which should mean more money for the city.

"So that the city gets all of their money up front, in other words we're not paying the collection agency the fee," said Tony Cellino.

Cellino says some cities have had success with fine enforcement units, but with the cost of adding more people, that's still on Tulsa's wish list.

Last year, the Municipal Court created an amnesty period to encourage people to pay overdue fines, without the normal extra costs. Under the amnesty, 1,744 tickets were settled, bringing in $124,428. Before the program, the city of Tulsa had $2.2 million in outstanding fines.

5/29/2009 Related story: Tulsa's Amnesty Programs Called Successful