Selecting a collection agency#
For tips on selecting a collection agency, see http://www.goodinassociates.com/collections.jsp
Refer Cases to Collection Agency#
"Tagging" a case for pickup by the agency via Judici is done using a special record sheet auto-entry event. This can be entered manually, but the Refer Cases to Collection Agency menu option (on the PCJ Collections menu, or Option 21 on the Miscellaneous Menu on the GS) is better for numerous reasons (see Why you shouldnT manually mark individual cases for referral to a collection agency)
How does the agency get its fee?#
Statute (730 ILCS 5/5-9-3) allows for certain "surcharges" to be collected,(on top of the outstanding balance). Once an agency collects this, there are two ways it can be paid to them:
The agency can forward it to the court with the payment, and the court will disburse it to either the SA or agency as called for in the agency's contract.
The agency can "skim" their fee, sending the court only what applies to the outstanding fines and fees.
How does the court get its money?#
Agencies seem to offer two options:
Check
EFT- with Judici E-Pay, the AOIC made clear that funds should never be deposited directly into the Clerk's disbursement account. So if the agency is to give the court its money by EFT, it should probably be put into a clearing account and then EFT'd into the regular disbursement account after payment records are created.
How do payment records get created?#
They will have to be entered manually, based on information provided when the agency gives the court the funds it collects. The idea of writing a program to automatically import payments was set aside because it would face some serious quirks, such as:
What if the litigant name on the agency's payment record doesn't match that in JIMS?
What if a defendant pays off the account at the court, but then gets a call from the agency and pays them too?
Some comments on manually entering payments:
If there is an amount in the A/R for SA Collections, staff receipting payments should make sure that they distribute the proper percentage (23.0769%) to that fee. In PCJIMS, this can be done automatically if you use the "Auto-distribute" feature. The agency is going to bill the court for this fee after they download such payments, and if those funds have been disbursed to someone else in the meantime, it will be a problem.
Use the "Coll agn chk" payment type if the agency provides funds via check. If the funds are transferred by EFT use "Coll agn EFT" so that the funds will not be included in the deposit totals.
Put the agency's check number or EFT transaction ID into JIMS as the incoming check number.
Adjustments to the A/R after the case is referred#
If a defendant successfully pleads for a reduction, or their due amount increases due to a re-offense:
Make sure to reduce the SA Collections fee accordingly, or you could wind up taking more or less in collection fees that you're supposed to.
Withdrawal of a case previously referred to collections#
A collection agency can get in trouble if they chase amounts not truly owed and overdue. And the web service only pushes out new and changed A/Rs and payment. So the court must remember to:
withdraw the case from collections (using the appropriate record sheet event) if there is a change to any of the eligibility criteria described in Why you shouldnT manually mark individual cases for referral to a collection agency
remember to set the total Collections Fee to what has been paid to date- you can't show that in the A/R if your case is no longer being handled by a collection agency.
avoid deleting payment records which have already gone out to the agency, choosing instead to use adjusting/negative entries.
Re-referring cases to collections#
If a case is withdrawn due to post-term activity, it should probably remain withdrawn even after re-sentencing, to give the defendant time to pay if their fines and fees were increased. If they are not increased, the case can be re-referred.Â