BY Megan Ashley fink

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — The agency under contract with Adams County came before the board of supervisors Tuesday to provide an update on its collections effort on past-due fines.

At previous meetings, Adams County Justice Court officials said the computer system the courts use to communicate with Receivable Solutions is updated every day, but the agency has still failed to produce meaningful collections results.

The county has approximately $4 million in past-due, uncollected fines.

Receivable Solutions President and Owner Bruce Brice Jr. said he requested to come before the board in order to clear up misunderstandings.

Brice provided supervisors with statistics on collected fines for the past year. He said amounts had steadily decreased since 2013, but not because of any wrongdoing on the company’s fault.

“(Justice court) used to send me placements every six months,” Brice said. “Now it’s more like every year, and the accounts are years old.”

The older the accounts, Brice said, the more difficult it is to collect the past-due fines.

Only a fraction of the $4 million on the books is collectable, Brice said, because many delinquent fines are owed from people who no longer live in the area, have died, or are no longer reachable at their last known addresses.

Justice Court Clerk Audrey Bailey said she could not send entire six-month spans of accounts at one time because some of the people included in those reports may not be past due.

“Brice calls Delta, and Delta calls me,” Bailey said, referring to Delta Computer Systems, which the court uses to update public records.

“But I can’t send just everybody.”

The computer system, Bailey said, is not necessary to turn over fines imposed in court by judges, but only tickets such as for speeding.

Brice said he could work out an arrangement with the courts to get the correct accounts more quickly.

Supervisors president Mike Lazarus said he was also concerned about the situation of those who are making partial payments to their accounts through Receivable Solutions, because the county is continuing to apply late fees while they are working on closing out the account.

“People are getting rooked,” Lazarus said. “They’re not getting any credit for the payments they make.”

The board made a motion to authorize County Attorney Scott Slover to work with the tax collector to find a solution to the problem.

In other news:

– Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten modeled new uniforms for the sheriff’s office, which included a long sleeve Khaki shirt, dark tie, and dark pants.

“They’re nice, they’re more professional,” Patten said.

Patten also announced he had reorganized some personnel in the jail, which allowed the sheriff’s office to bring on the existing cook as a full-time employee with benefits, as well as one part-time cook, and will soon add another jailer without adding more money to the budget.

The food will also now be sourced from Hick’s Chicks, a local business.

-Adams County Emergency Management director Robert Bradford said the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality would keep the boat ramp at Natchez-Adams County Port closed for a while longer. The Vidalia boat ramp is open, Bradford said.