$75 Fine to go up 60%

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
August 21, 2010

You may have missed the important part of an article in last week's Northwest Herald article about a $7 increase in fees assessed by the McHenry County Board. Did you miss it?

The County Board voted on August 17 by a vote of 22-0 to stick it to you for an extra $3 court automation fee (from $5 to $8) and for an extra $4 in the document storage fee (from $5 to $9). Be sure to thank your County Board member, next time you see him or her.

Big deal!

After you read that, did you keep reading for the really important part of the article?

State ticket costs will go up on September 15. If you thought you'd get out of the courthouse for $75, on September 15 (and after) it will cost you $120. That's an extra $45. That's an increase of 60%.

That's an increase of 60%.

A whopping 60% increase in the basic $75 fine. Who can you thank for that? Try Jack Franks. And Pam Althoff. And Mike Tryon.

You might call their offices on Monday and ask how they voted on that bill.
Rep. Jack Franks 815.334.0063
Rep. Mike Tryon 815. 459.6453
Sen. Pam Althoff 815.455.6330

Did you read anything in the news about the increases when these bills were pending in the legislature? Does the legislature even set these fines?

And how about the $95 tickets? On September 15 those fines will go up to $140. That's also a $45 increase. For a $95 ticket the increase is 47%.

Will chiefs of police and the sheriff decide to tell their officers and deputies to use more discretion, in view of exorbitant fines and court costs? Or will their employees continue to be required to meet "non-quota quotas" (performance standards) on tickets? Or to ticket certain people if you stop them, no matter how minor the violation is?

Last Friday night another headlight was out on the Beetle. That's the 14th headlight in the last six years. Do you think I dared drive my car to the store?

Do you think I'd encounter a cop who would start to give me a warning and then, after a second cop pulled up, inform me that he was going to give a ticket, instead?

I say, either you give warnings to everyone for minor equipment violations, or you ticket everybody. Around here "discretion" means if you like the driver, give him a break. Or if the driver is a deputy, you don't ticket him even if he runs a stop sign (and admits inattention) and causes a wreck.

But you write a ticket to somebody whose headlight was out for 10 miles and 15 minutes on a bitter cold January night because of the second officer. Who, me? Still mad? Why not?

If the driver is blowing the whistle on too many problems, try to shut him up with a ticket.

Only it doesn't work, does it?