Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Quorum Court studies probation services

Court Probation Services has been handling several court-related details for both Nevada County and Prescott for about 14 years. When county officials saw the amount of money being made by CPS, they initiated talks on the possibility of taking over those duties.

That apparently sparked a series of meetings between the county and representatives of CPS. The most recent was held during the May meeting of the Nevada County Quorum Court and that meeting ended justices of the peace agreeing to allow the countys attorney to work toward a new contractual agreement with CPS.

There are several issues at hand apparently making JPs want to continue their consideration before entering into a formal agreement with CPS. One of those is money.

JP Herbert Coleman said records indicate that CPS made $36,000 last year. He said the bottom line question is whether the county could save money by performing that job themselves.

According to County Attorney Dana Stone, there is no existing contract between the county and CPS. Lewis Pollack, speaking for CPS, said the contract expired years ago but the company continued to do their work.

Another point of contention among JPs is that CPS uses an office in the county courthouse but pays no rent. Pollack said he believes thats an issue that can be resolved.

According to Pollack, CPSs revenue is offender based. That means those who are fined and told to report to CPS through the local courts are also ordered to pay a $25 per-visit fee. That fee becomes CPSs profit.

Pollack was represented by Arkadelphia attorney Tony McMillan.

McMillan said that he believes CPS can request an increase and suggested $27.50 or $28. If the judges agree to set that new standard, He said the company would then be willing to pay rent for the room the company uses at the courthouse. McMillan said he doesnt believe it would be legal to then hand that money over to the county, but said CPS could pro-rate the annual rent based on the amount of income from the increase.

As JPs turned the discussion to the annual income for CPS from Prescott and Nevada County fines, Stone said its important to remember that the county can charge only a $5 per visit probation fee. That means the county could not collect the same amount as CPS, nor could they turn the same profit.

Pollack said the most important job of CPS staff is collecting fines and he said CPS offers a bonus for high collection rates.

Stone said that if the county should decide to take on the job of fine collections, they would need to create a new position. She said that because CPS collects for both the city and county, an interlocal agreement between the two entities would be required.

Stone said another point to consider is that the collection rate depends entirely on how vigorously the collecting agent works at it. She said theres little doubt that CPS is doing a good job and at no cost to the county.

Finally, Pollack and his staff pointed out that CPS also provides job placement services to help offenders find jobs so that they can pay their fines.

JPs were then asked whether to allow Stone to work with McCorkle toward a new agreement.

When Nevada County Judge Baker Butler called for a vote, only Coleman voted against the measure.