Could a Louisiana town hire a collection agency to recover unpaid traffic fines?

Plain-English summary

In January 2014, the Louisiana Attorney General told the Town of Jackson that it could not use a collection agency to recover unpaid traffic fines other than parking violations. La. R.S. 13:1898(A), as the opinion quoted it, assigned collection of fines, forfeitures, penalties, and costs to the city court clerk or the marshal designated by the judge, unless a special law provided otherwise.

Jackson's charter gave its mayor and trustees municipal powers. The AG treated the court-collection powers in La. R.S. 13:1898(A) as among those municipal powers and concluded that the court clerk or judge-designated marshal had the collection responsibility. The opinion did not decide how parking violations were collected.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Could Jackson hire a private agency for unpaid traffic fines?

The AG said no for fines other than parking violations. It read La. R.S. 13:1898(A) as assigning the collection responsibility to the court clerk or judge-designated marshal.

Did the town's broad charter powers change that answer?

The AG treated the court-collection powers in La. R.S. 13:1898(A) as among the municipal powers recognized by Jackson's charter. It then applied that statute's assignment of collection to the clerk or judge-designated marshal.

Did the AG decide collection of unpaid parking tickets?

No. The mayor's question expressly excluded parking violations, and the answer was limited the same way.

Background and statutory framework

Mayor Charles Coleman asked about outsourcing unpaid traffic-fine collection. The AG quoted La. R.S. 13:1898(A), including its allocation of collected funds to the city or parish treasury depending on the prosecution. It also cited an earlier opinion interpreting the clerk's or marshal's collection role as exclusive unless specially authorized.

Citations

• La. R.S. 13:1898(A) (court fine collection provision quoted in the opinion).
• La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 05-0197 (earlier interpretation cited by the AG).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0165

Original opinion text

~tate .of IG ouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

January 8, 2014
OPINION 13-0165

The Honorable Charles E. Coleman
71 MUNICIPALITIES
La. R.S. 13:1898
Mayor, Town of Jackson
Under La. R.S. 13:1898(A), the Town of Jackson may not use a
P.O. Box 1150
collection agency to collect unpaid traffic fines other than parking
Jackson, LA 70748
violations.

Dear Mayor Coleman:

Your request for an Attorney General's Opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. You ask whether the Town of Jackson (the "Town") may use a collection agency to collect unpaid traffic fines other than parking violations.

The Town operates under a legislative charter under which its mayor and trustees have the authority to make all needful police regulations for the preservation and protection of good order, peace and happiness of the municipality.1 The Charter also grants the mayor and trustees the power to make bylaws for the government of the municipality.2 Current bylaws provide that the mayor, as chief executive officer of the Town, shall enforce the laws of the Town and shall try and punish offenders. 3 Additionally, both the Charter and La. Const. art. VI, § 4 grant the mayor and trustees all other corporate powers that are prescribed by law for the government of municipalities. 4

Included among those other powers are those granted to city and municipal courts.
Pertinently, La. R.S. 13:1898(A) provides as follows:

Except as otherwise provided by special law and in Subsection B thereof,s the clerk of the city court orthe marshal, as designated by the judge, shall collect all fines, forfeitures, penalties, and costs, and all funds so collected by them, excluding costs, shall be paid into the city treasury when the prosecution is on behalf of the city and into the parish treasury to be deposited in the parish general fund and used as a general expenditure of

1
Town of Jackson Charter, Section 8, Subsection 7, "Police Powers." 2
Town of Jackson Charter, Section 4, Subsection 7, "Bylaws." 3
Town of Jackson Charter, Section 3.1, "Enforcement of Laws." 4
Town of Jackson Charter, Section 4, Subsection 9, "General Municipal Powers." 5
La. R.S. 13:1898(8) pertains to Lincoln Parish and thus is inapplicable.

Page 2

The Honorable Charles E. Coleman
Opinion 13-0165
Page -2­

said parish, in parishes other than Orleans, when the prosecution is on behalf of the state or parish.

[Emphasis added].

As we stated in La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 05-0197, given the emphasized language, it is clear that the clerk of the city court or the marshal, as designated by the judge, has the sole responsibility of collecting unpaid fines unless a special authorization exists.

Considering the forgoing statutory authority, it is the opinion of this office that, under La. R.S. 13:1898(A), the Town may not use a collection agency to collect unpaid traffic fines other than parking violations.

We trust this adequately responds to your request. However, if our office can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
Attorney General

By:~fr- ~
BENJAMIN A. HUXEN II
Assistant Attorney General
JDC/BAH II