Teaching a lesson
MARQUETTE COUNTY -- The Marquette County District Court is in the process of reopening traffic delinquent cases from years ago, and it's brought in close to $60,000 over the last five months.
The Marquette County District Court discontinued bench warranting individuals who did not pay their traffic fines due to the overcrowding at jail, but now that has changed.
Reopening Mangum Prison Farm relieved overcrowding at Marquette County Jail from 2007 through 2009.
Last spring the district court began reopening every eligible traffic delinquent case, which was 1,469 cases total, and as of September 14, 641 of those cases have been resolved.
"You know, the reality is we don't want to use our jail beds for people that aren't paying traffic fines," said Court Administrator Charity Mason. "That just doesn't make sense in terms of the philosophy that we abide by here at the court, but at the same time, the deterrent effect of imposing a fine is not effective unless the fine is actually paid."
The court is continuing to pursue the remainder of the cases that exist.
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