King County to add prosecutor in traffic court to boost ticket revenue

January 5, 2011 @ 6:16 am (Updated: 1:30 pm - 3/28/11 )

Washington State Patrol traffic ticket
Washington State Patrol Trooper Mathew Sloan writes a ticket. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) | Zoom
By CHRIS SULLIVAN
KIRO Radio

We've all heard or maybe even tried a little of fast-talking or double speak to get out of a ticket, but the free ride is about to end in King County. A little court room tap dancing is now going to be met with prosecutor.

Presiding King County District Court Judge Barbara Linde says that the county will dedicate a full-time prosecutor to defending traffic tickets, and that person will likely be in traffic court by the end of the month.

The prosecutor will defend tickets written by the State Patrol on all state highways and freeways in King County and municipal tickets in unincorporated parts of the County. So if you contest your ticket, you won't only have to argue against the officers or troopers written statement, you will likely face a prosecutor representing the cop's interests as well.

Right now, judges only have that written statement. There is no one arguing for the state. Judge Linde told me it really puts judges in an awkward position.

The cities of Redmond and Bellevue have been doing this for a while, but now there will be prosecutors defending tickets in the other 10 cities that contract with King County.

But does it make sense to dedicate a prosecutor to traffic court at a time when budgets are so tight major crimes prosecutors are being let go?

Snohomish County faced that dilemma a few years ago. It was tired of people skating on their tickets. It knew it was losing a lot of money. So it put a fresh law school grad in traffic court on a part-time basis and, "It was so successful that after a couple of years the county council said 'We want you to have one person full-time doing that,'" said Snohomish County chief criminal deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro.

Snohomish County hasn't looked back. Its ticket revenue is up because dismissals are down.

Cavagnaro admits she wasn't onboard right away. She had trouble justifying a prosecutor spot for traffic court in a time when Snohomish County has had to cut 15 percent of its prosecutor's office budget. But once she saw the results, Cavagnaro told me she changed her mind. "If the system is working correctly and the tickets hold up in court, well there's some revenue. That's where our budget dollars come from so that we can prosecute the murders, the rapes and the robberies."

But again, that's the dilemma, dedicating a prosecutor to the little stuff to help fund the big stuff. It's what's kept Pierce County from doing it. Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told me he doesn't have the people to pull this off, but it's something he's looked at almost every year for the last two or three years. He's not sold on the tradeoff, but he told me he's watching other counties who are doing this. He expects to bring it up with the Pierce County Council again this year.

Kitsap County just started putting a prosecutor in traffic court this week, and it's already seeing less dismissals and more open checkbooks.

So if you get popped for speeding or a cell phone ticket, you might want to check with your county before you choose to contest it. You could be biting off a little more than you can chew.

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Comments (21)


  • Add A Comment

  • lofat wrote...
    Absuse
    January 5, 2011 7:25 am
    I am very found of washington State. I was born in Bremerton in 1952 and have lived here all my life. Two things that I always have noticed ever since I can remember is that the goverment here have always abused thier power and that the people here are the biggist litter bugs I have ever seen. I can never figure out why either action is necessary.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hopalong wrote...
    Help!
    January 5, 2011 7:54 am
    Bring on the help of Tim Eyman and put an end to this once and for all by the voters of this state not the idiots running local and state governments.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    Please
    January 5, 2011 8:13 am
    What's next? Why not hire a bunch of bottom of their class PDs to represent the "underserved" members of the community in traffic court?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Barent wrote...
    "To Collect & Serve"
    January 5, 2011 8:20 am
    At least the Courts are finally being honest about their true objectives. It's not about safety. It about revenue.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mikeINLakeStevens wrote...
    Just another step
    January 5, 2011 8:34 am
    ...in public vs. the private sector.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Siont wrote...
    I agree Abuse of Power
    January 5, 2011 8:37 am
    It's true don't do stupid stuff on the road, at least thats what I always thought until I was pulled over and ticketed my first time after 15 years of driving with a perfect record and got nailed for $900. (Didn't know License was expired by a week $550, didnt even tell me, I got the ticket in the mail a week later) Police have gotten ticket happy since the start of the recession and tickets cost way more than just the expense of the ticket, it will also cost the taxpayer for years on insurance premiums. I know of four crazy examples from the last year. One where the person was ticked for 2 miles per hour over on the freeway. Another where the person crossed the white line at a stop sign before stopping on a country road because a bush was in the way of the line of site. When this was explained to the officer, the officer acknowledged agreed and apologized but said he was instructed not to let anyone off even for slight violations because revenue was needed. One where it was a modified and changed law on mufflers that passed 2 years ago but was retroactive on any car newer than the 1970s. And one more where one police officer sat at a bottom of a steep hill with a radar gun with 5 police and cars filling up a side road around the corner and was just nabbing and directing people to a police car. All day long in front of my in-laws house you couldn't even get in our out of the road they had 9 to 10 cars all day long, it was like a Starbucks drive thru. So yeah don't do stupid stuff while driving but when the rules change and the police no longer use balanced judgment to make allowance for minor human error, hiring a prosecutor to help increase ticket revenue is no longer forcing the law but intimidation to force people to just pony up the cash to feed the ferocious unending appetite of the politicians of our State
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  • hopalong wrote...
    Not always simple
    January 5, 2011 8:41 am
    Xkop, I hope you get one of those red light tickets then you might know what you are talking about. I got one going up to a Seahawks game by getting off the freeway to buy some. About a week or so I got a nice notice in the mail with a photo of my car at the light and a website that you can go to and see a nice video. The mistake that I made was going over the white line but I did stop then made my turn, I tried to fight it but was told I broke the law by going over the line for a fine of $110.00
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  • hopalong wrote...
    Sorry
    January 5, 2011 8:45 am
    getting off the freeway to buy some gas.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Halliday's head...
    January 5, 2011 9:12 am
    ...KABOOOOOM!"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Jargon wrote...
    It is all about the money
    January 5, 2011 10:11 am
    Yes it is all about the money... the money needed to run the court system, the money needed to prosecute crimes, the money needed to pay for law enforcement. I hate the system and there are certain situations that lend themselves to abuse and we see it everyday. That said, the system also has some interesting speed bumps that mitigate the damage for those that are collateral damage in the war on offending citizens. Every Driver in the state is entitled to a deferral for a moving violation and one for a non moving violation, every seven years, which keeps the tickets off your driving record. You just have to pay a $125.00 Court fee. so it's about the money. If you ask to Mitigate your ticket rather than Contest your ticket, you will in all likelihood get a reduction in the ticket amount, but you will probably get hit on your insurance since you didn't qualify for the deferral because you already caught a break on your last violation. This makes you a repeat offender in the eyes of the law and you are now considered part of "the problem" which makes you fair game if you break the law. Bottom line, it's about the money. If you contest a ticket, which means you are claiming you didn't do the crime, you are taxing the system further and are probably trying to get away with something, usually on a technicality, which now costs the rest of us money. So, again, it's about the money. So the bottom line is, don't break the law because the gov't doesn't care about your safety or welfare in this context, it simply needs and wants your money to support itself. If you make yourself an easy target they will take shoot first and ask no questions later. Once the prosecutor is on board he not only has tickets and revenue to defend, he has a budget and a reputation to defend and the system is well stacked against the average Joe. You can still beat the system in this case but only if you hire and pay for an attorney capable of cutting a deal. So again, it's about the money.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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