Online collections soaring in Pa. criminal justice system

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts reported Thursday that a record $103 million in fees, fines, costs and restitution was collected online through the PAePay system in 2016.

“There is an increase in its use, just as you see in so many different fields, whether it’s paying utility bills or buying concert tickets or whatever,” said Pennsylvania Courts Communications Coordinator Art Heinz. “People have become accustomed and they expect to be able to pay this way – not just that they like it, but they’re expecting it and they’re expecting their court systems to be modern and efficient in the same way.”

Use of the online system saw a 14 percent increase in the number of transactions or users last year and a 12 percent uptick in online payments, according to a release from the AOPC.

Pennsylvania courts collected a total $462.1 million in 2016. That figure has remained fairly steady over the last three years, with the state collecting $462 million in 2014 and $464.5 million in 2015, according to historic data.

Heinz said the collections flow to the state, which then divvies up the cash through the budgeting process. Pennsylvania last year received the lion’s share with $222 million, followed by counties with $153.6 million. Municipalities received $45.1 million for local government programs and crime victims received $36.7 million in restitution. Various other entities such as airports, parking authorities and libraries received $4.7 million, according to the release.

Delaware County Magisterial District Courts collected $8.2 million of that total, or 77 percent of the fees, fines, costs and restitution orders they imposed in 2016, according to an interactive data reporting system on the AOPC webpage. Magisterial District Court collections accounted for $187 million statewide, or about 74 percent of the total court ordered payments.

Collection rates appear to drop precipitously for most of the state’s 67 counties at the Common Pleas level. Statewide, Common Pleas court payments totaled $99 million in 2016, or 24 percent of the $409 million levied.

But the AOPC notes that those collection rates increase over time due to the multi-year structure of those orders. Delaware County Common Pleas Courts, for instance, collected just $3.6 million last year, or 17 percent of all imposed payments. But the same was true for 2007, the first year of data available online, when the county took in just 18 percent of the payments ordered that year. By 2016, 2007 collections had risen to 33 percent.

Heinz said the main takeaway from the 2016 data, however, was the PAePay system, which grew exponentially last year.

“The payments are coming in quicker, they’re less labor intensive … and it’s more convenient for the users, the taxpayers” he said. “They can now pay what they owe with a credit card. So the real key is that the record amount paid during 2016 wasn’t the total amount collected, but in the way it was collected.”