JCS collects more than $100,000 annually for Daleville

A private probation company has collected more than $100,000 annually for Daleville since contracting with the city in 2008.

City of Daleville Court Clerk Michelle Bryan said Monday that between July 2014 and July of this year, Judicial Collection Services has collected $141,998.91 for the city.

One year before contacting with JCS, the city court collected $391,051.65, Bryan said. One year later, the amount collected was $503,624.28.

Daleville is one of 50 Alabama municipalities who contract with the for-profit probation company accused by the Southern Poverty Law Center of charging illegal fees.

The SPLC has accused JCS of racketeering and extortion and in March filed a lawsuit against the company and the City of Clanton claiming that JCS “takes advantage of the poor in order to turn greater profits through unlawful fees and threats of prison time.”

The SPLC settled the Clanton lawsuit and as a result, the city terminated its contract with JCS.

In June, the SPLC sent letters to about 100 municipalities, including Daleville and Level Plains, asking them to end their dealings with JCS, which has offices in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The City of Daleville has contracted with JCS since 2008 but it became a city council meeting topic of discussion in July after receipt of the SPLC letter.

Daleville City Attorney Henry Steagall drafted a new agreement with JCS that included an option for the city to exit the contract with 30 days notice. The council approved it on the guidance of Municipal Judge Joe Gallo who told the council that JCS collects more money than the court office alone could do.

Daleville Mayor Claudia Wigglesworth told the Daleville Sun Courier that to her knowledge the city has not received any complaints about the company and that staffing limitations are the reason the city has opted to continue outsourcing the collecting service. “We are taking a wait-and-see approach and we’re leaving all of our options open but are examining alternatives.”

Daleville’s neighboring city of Level Plains is among 54 municipalities who opted to terminate their contracts with JCS, but the move had nothing to do with the SPLC letter.

“We decided the City of Level Plains was capable of managing its court collection efforts again and no longer needed the services of JCS,” Level Plains City Councilman James Bullinger said. “Cancelling was not a result of the SPLC letter, per se, but more that we had re-evaluated what was better for the city and the citizens of Level Plains.”

Level Plains Mayor Bruce Grantham “has been working hard to increase and implement better business processes within city hall and boost our revenues,” Bullinger said. “Years ago the town/city was not as effective at managing various aspects of the city’s business and sought out the professional services of companies to help with collecting different types of revenue.

“Unfortunately, those companies keep a substantial portion of the collected revenue in exchange for their services,” Bullinger said. “We would prefer to get back to doing much of our own collecting in order to keep more of the revenue and put the money back to work for our citizens.”