SARASOTA COUNTY - A word of caution for Keith Chrimson, Hiram Amason, Brandon Finch, Agraciana Rojas and Lorna Todd: An arrest warrant was issued for you Friday because you did not pay your court fines.
Those five people did not show up to a new collections court in Sarasota County to explain why they have not paid their fines, so the judge ordered them arrested under an aggressive new collections program.
Last month, Holly Young of Venice did not show up, either. So, she was arrested Sept. 9 and was not released until she paid $250 bond toward her fine for driving while her license was suspended.
Previously, defendants who missed a payment toward their court fines would be hounded by mail by the clerk's office, which would eventually hand the case over to a collection agency.
But the new collections court gives the courts heavy leverage to collect money from people who owe fines and fees to the court system for crimes and civil infractions. If successful, a similar program could expand into Manatee County.
The six people who did show up to collections court Friday had a relatively easy time. They told the judge how much they could pay each month and when they could start.
County Judge Kimberly Bonner worked with them, even Patrick Cabrera, who had a warrant for his arrest for contempt of collections court.
Bonner also canceled Cabrera's warrant and waived any extra fees associated with issuing the warrant.
Cabrera still got some bad news Friday: His fines in four separate cases totaled $1,139. But he can avoid jail by paying $50 a month, or less if he cannot afford it.
"If you have to go to $5 a month, that's fine, but at least you keep whittling away," Bonner told him. "Just let us know."
Collecting the money is the goal for the judicial system, which started the program as a way to collect court-imposed fines to keep the judiciary system working.
The judicial circuit budget has been cut 13 percent over the past three years because of the economy, court officials said.
Attorneys and advocates for the poor say the collections court falls hardest on people who are struggling, and jail is a harsh way to try to get money from people who might not be able to pay.
Particularly now, when the economy is bad.
Bonner did not push hard on Friday, although the judge can also ask what the debtor spends money on -- cable TV or cigarettes, for example -- and require them to end frivolous spending until the court fees and fines are paid.
"I'm not going to be able to pay this month," Matthew Smith told the judge. "I was injured and not able to work."
Bonner gave him until Nov. 30 to start paying $25 a month on his $855 fines.
Willie Spiller said he was riding his bicycle when he got arrested on a warrant for not setting up a payment plan for the $323 fine for an arrest on having an open beer in public.
"They got a little rough out there, and I didn't know anything about it," Spiller told the judge.
He has no job, and is drawing unemployment, but he said he could start paying $25 each month starting in October.
Constitutional law forbids jailing people solely over fees and fines they cannot pay, but Florida officials argue that, technically, they are jailing people because they violated court orders by not showing up.
In a similar program in Leon County, 839 people in one year were arrested and jailed over court debts or failure to appear at collections court, according to a study by the Brennan Center.
Sarasota court officials say the program -- modeled after one in Orange County -- is not intended for defendants who have no chance of paying the fines. It even lets them write a letter explaining why they missed a payment if they cannot make it to court or to ask for an extension.
After the judge put Cabrera on the payment plan, he thought about two years worth of $50 monthly payments and suggested another alternative.
"Is there any way to go to jail and get this taken care of rather than paying this for two years?" Cabrera said.
Bonner said no.
By Todd Ruger
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