Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
COLLEEN JENKINSIn a rare flash of progress, a county Web site will offer the option of using a credit card online or choosing driving school for some violations.
The long lines at the courthouse traffic ticket windows may soon be an annoyance of the past. Starting this weekend, Pasco residents can pay traffic fines via the Internet.
A new option on the Pasco County Clerk of Court Web site (www.pascoclerk.com) will allow people with most types of traffic tickets to pay their fines by credit card or elect defensive driving school.
Clerk's officials expect the benefits from the new offering will be twofold. Fines for citations such as speeding, running a red light and expired tags now will be payable through the convenience of a personal computer with a minimal fee attached, said Rosalyn Fenton, director of court services for Pasco Clerk of Court Jed Pittman.
The option also should reduce lines at the clerk's windows in the courthouses in New Port Richey and Dade City. Some days, Fenton said, as many as 300 people visit the New Port Richey courthouse to pay citations.
"It will make it better for people who do come to the courthouse," she said.
The technological advance, which Fenton said should be in place by Saturday, is one of many the clerk's office promised when it created its Web site three years ago. At the time, officials said it wouldn't be long before a whole new world of official records and court documents became available online.
Progress hasn't materialized as quickly as projected.
In fall of 2001, Pittman's top computer specialist, David Rounds, told the Times that the clerk's office was in the process of switching to a more user-friendly database for criminal court records. Rounds said that database would be available on the Web within three years.
But three years later, the clerk's office still has its clunky computer dialup system from the 1980s. On Tuesday, Rounds said converting criminal court records to a Web-based system was "not on the near horizon" for the office.
"We are a long way from ever being able to do that," he said.
The clerk's office has a somewhat unusual arrangement in that it shares its criminal database with the offices of the sheriff, state attorney and public defender. A conversion of all those agencies' data could take three years, Rounds said Tuesday. The agencies are studying what such a project would entail.
Rounds was surprised to learn from a reporter that the clerk's Web site tells its subscribers that searches of criminal records would be possible through the site in late October 2004.
After researching the issue, he said the plans had included merely linking subscribers to the county-run dialup system but are now on hold.
"It will probably be in 2005," said Rounds, who had the notice on the Web site removed after talking with the Times.
Nevertheless, the Internet payment option for traffic tickets puts Pasco County on par with most neighboring clerk's offices. Residents in Hernando, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties already can take care of handling traffic fines online. Citrus County takes payments only by mail or in person.
The Pasco system will allow fines to be handled over the Web only if they are paid within 30 days of when the ticket was issued.
Also, citations that require a court appearance will not be eligible, Fenton said. Examples of ineligible violations include a moving violation with bodily injury or failure to produce a driver's license.
Those who do pay by credit card will be charged a service fee of 3 percent or a $5 minimum. The clerk's office will receive 50 cents per transaction, with the remainder of the fee going toward the charge for processing credit cards, Fenton said.
To help spread the word, the clerk's office has partnered with the library system and plans to train library staffers to be able to explain to patrons how to use the Web site.
Robert Altman, the New Port Richey attorney who is giving Pittman his first competition for the clerk's job since 1996, has made putting more documents and forms online part of his campaign message. He's not sure whether the timing of the new function on the clerk's site has anything to do with the election but is pleased with the improvement.
"I've been thanked by a couple of attorneys for the changes I've made in the clerk's office," Altman said, tongue in cheek. "I don't know if it's coincidence or not. But it is a step in the right direction."
Colleen Jenkins covers courts in west Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. Her e-mail address is cjenkins@sptimes.com