Violators who owe the city fines and court costs totalling $18,307.33 have arranged to settle up through payment plans or community service under a deal that allows them to avoid additional punishment, Municipal Court Judge Nancy Thomas said.

Approved by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen in November and designed to reduce the roughly $2 million in unpaid fines and costs on the city’s books, the program has so far resulted in the withdrawal of 43 warrants for contempt-of-court arrests, Thomas said.

Those warrants issue automatically when someone convicted of a misdemeanor fails to pay fines and court costs within 10 days of the conviction. They require police to immediately arrest the defendant and detain the debtor until a cash bond is posted. 

Additionally, if the conviction is for a traffic offense, an overdue fine results in the automatic suspension of the defendant’s driver’s license, Thomas said. State law requires a two-day jail sentence for people convicted of driving on a suspended license, she said. 

“The penalties can really multiply for people who forget to pay their fines,” Thomas said.  “That’s an obvious reason why it’s important to take care of them now.”

Under the window opened by the city, which is scheduled to close March 31, arrest warrants for defendants who owe fines will be withdrawn if the defendants agree to make payments or sign up to pick up litter or clean public buildings.

Those arrangements can be made by calling the municipal court clerk’s office at 601-631-3742.  People with overdue fines also can work out payment agreements or community service plans by visiting the clerk’s office, which is located in the Vicksburg Police Department at 820 Veto St.

“This is completely voluntary,” Thomas said. “No one is going to be arrested for just showing up to pay their fines.”

The city has issued more than 7,000 contempt warrants for overdue fines, some of which date to the mid-1990s. 

The difficulty of collecting overdue misdemeanor fines is not unique to Vicksburg. Earlier this year, Warren County supervisors hired a collection agency to contact people with past-due county-court fines.

Previous city administrations also have tried to collect old fines through a collection agency, according to Thomas, who became municipal court judge in July following 12 years as city attorney.  That approach “was not successful,” she said.

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Contact Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com