City cancels contract on court system
The Russellville City Council voted Monday to terminate its contract with a company that works with the city’s court system.
Judicial Corectional Service, which is based out of Georgia, has been working with the municipal court since 2005, allowing residents to make payments on their fines.
City officials said Monday that it would be in the city’s best interest to begin handling the court system itself.
Judicial Correctional Service takes a 30 percent commission from every payment collected, Mayor Troy Oliver said. In years past, that commission has totaled nearly $65,000 in revenue not returned to the city. The company also accepts a payment of $35 each time an individual postpones making the payment in full.
Oliver said the idea is not to do away with payment plans, but to hire an extra court employee to collect payments. That way, all fines paid will work to stimulate local economy, he said.
The city’s contract with JCS stipulates the city give a 30-day notice before termination.
Councilman Jeff Masterson said that he was in favor of terminating the contract with JCS, but he would only support adding one more employee inside the municipal building to help handle the payments.
“Other cities around us are able to do it with two and I think we can also,” Masterson said.
Some council members have contended that it would cost more for the city to handle the court payments rather than by allowing JCS to continue.
Councilman William Nale said the current structure takes advantage of people who cannot make a one-time payment.
“They don’t want you to pay it in full,” he said. “They want you to keep paying the $35 to put it off. It hurts people who can’t pay it all at one time.”
In other business, the council:
• approved a contract with Garver Engineering for Russellville Municipal Airport
• hired Jessica Clements as a patrol officer with the police department
• approved opening two new bank accounts with Community Spirit Bank to be used for the Mill Village community development block grant project
• approved a $1,500 appropriation to the city school system to be used by the track program
• approved a contract with D&S Concessions for the July 4th celebration at Sloss Lake
• approved the police department’s reserve roster list.
