Lubbock County Considers Outside Firm to Collect Overdue Court Fines, With Charges Passed to Debtors

Lubbock County Considers Outside Firm to Collect Overdue Court Fines, With Charges Passed to Debtors

People with overdue court fines and fees owed to Lubbock County could face collection charges under a proposed agreement commissioners will consider October 26.

The Commissioners Court agenda includes a contingent fee contract with Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott LLP to collect delinquent court fines and fees. An accompanying county notice says the collection charge would be paid by the debtor rather than Lubbock County.

The notice does not specify the proposed collection fee percentage.

Commissioners will consider several related actions, including a professional services exemption, written findings supporting the hiring of outside counsel and authorization for County Judge Curtis Parrish to sign the contract.

The county notice says collecting the overdue accounts internally would require resources the county currently lacks, including adequate support staff, computer software and collections experience. Acquiring those resources would create substantial expense, according to the document.

Under the proposed arrangement, payment would depend on successful collections rather than the number of hours spent pursuing an account.

The notice says the arrangement would allow the county “to pay only on the accounts that are collected and to pay nothing on those accounts that are worked extensively, but not able to be collected due to various factors.”

The firm already handles other collections connected to the county. According to the notice, it has represented Lubbock County in delinquent property tax collections through the Lubbock Central Appraisal District since 1986 and delinquent beer and liquor license fee collections since 2017.

Monday’s meeting will determine whether commissioners approve the proposed arrangement. Its placement on the agenda does not mean a contract has already been approved.

The meeting begins at 10 a.m. October 26 on the fifth floor of the Lubbock County Courthouse, 904 Broadway. People wishing to address an agenda item must register before the meeting, with public comments limited to 2 minutes per speaker.

Community reporting presented by System X Technologies.