Issuing, Paying Traffic Tickets Gets Easier

SEBRING - In the old days, which were only a few weeks ago, a Highlands County deputy would cite drivers for speeding in his ticket book. The driver was handed a carbonless copy, and the original went to the sheriff's office, where it was transferred to the county clerk of courts and to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Now, the sheriff's office gives out electronic citations, said Sheriff Susan Benton.

"The ticket itself is uploaded electronically to the sheriff's office. There is no more hard copy," she said.

Every deputy now has a computer in his car, Benton said. Since Florida driver's licenses are scanable, the deputy electronically scans the card to determine if it's valid. The information is automatically imputed in his laptop.

It's also going to become more difficult to feign a look of innocence.

"It automatically pulls how many tickets you've already had for the last three months," the sheriff said. "So the deputy can make a decision on whether you should get a ticket, or get a warning. Is this your first offense, or have you had five in the last three months?"

Instead of checking out a ticket book, deputies receive an electronic bank of ticket numbers, Benton said.

"The ticket numbers coming out of Tallahassee are a very important thing to keep control of," Benton said. "We use to have to ... certify that every single ticket was accounted for."

Nowadays, a printer in the patrol car prints out a copy of the citation. The computer uploads the information to the sheriff's office, and transmits it to the court clerk and the state without being retyped, cutting down on transcription errors.

"And the best part for the clerk's office is, they can now read the tickets. They don't have to guess at the deputy's signature," Benton smiled.

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Which is where the clerk of court's office comes in.

"All clerk of court offices are accepting credit cards," said Eric Zwayer, director of administration.

And yes, that means traffic tickets can be paid with American Express, Discover, Visa, and MasterCard debit or credit cards.

"They love it," said Bob Germaine, senior director of court services. "If they get a ticket, they can just pick up the phone and call."

Currently, there's a 3.2 percent fee on all transactions, but after July 1, that will become a straight $2.50 handling fee.

And within the next 12 months, several county offices will follow.

"I expect the landfill, building department, permits, departments which routinely accept cash will roll this out within the next 12 months," said Bob Jamison, senior director of business services.

"We'd much prefer not to handle cash," Jamison said. "There's still a risk with credit cards, but we've contracted out the responsibility with the Clerk of Courts

Germaine thinks accepting credit cards will mean more violators will pay their fines more quickly.

"I think the percent of collections will increase," he said.

Credit cards will also make it easier for people to any court fee, like marriage licenses, filing a small claims suit, or paying court-ordered restitution.