Sangamon County Circuit Clerk Joe Roesch and State’s Attorney John Milhiser announced that their recent court debt collection initiative has yielded significant results. The county’s contract with PayCourt, a Taylorville-based collections firm, has successfully recovered a substantial amount of unpaid traffic and criminal fines in just three weeks.
“In only three weeks, PayCourt has recovered $129,728 in unpaid traffic and criminal fines,” Roesch stated. The firm has also secured payment agreements totaling $391,512.66, ensuring that more outstanding debts will be collected over time.
Prior to this partnership, the Circuit Clerk’s Office was recovering only a few hundred dollars per month in long-overdue fines. The fees included in traffic and criminal fines are designated to return to county government, helping offset the cost of processing these cases. The impact of this effort has been immediate, with $95,689 from actual fines already funneled back into Sangamon County’s budget.
Roesch and Milhiser initiated the contract with PayCourt late last year in an effort to enhance the efficiency of recovering outstanding fines. PayCourt, formally known as Credit Collection Partners, has specialized in court debt collection since 2013 and currently serves 89 of Illinois’ 102 counties, as well as jurisdictions in Indiana and Louisiana.
In addition to traffic and criminal fines, PayCourt is expected to begin collecting annual fees on child support and maintenance cases. These funds, as mandated by state law, will return to the county to support the administration and processing of child support orders.
Sangamon County officials have identified numerous outstanding traffic and criminal fines that have remained unpaid for years. Roesch emphasized the broader benefit of these efforts, stating, “By partnering with PayCourt, we hope to recover fines and fees owed to the county, which in turn will help fund the criminal justice system in Sangamon County.”