Traffic citations stay steadily lower than high of 09-10

RBC I While jail incarcerations and the crime rate have remained steady for the past two years following a peak in 2009 and 2010, the same can be said for revenue brought into county and state coffers from traffic citation revenue raised by the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office (RBCSO).
During 2012, the RBCSO brought $120,175 in revenue to the county through citations, compared to $116,605 in 2011. That is in sharp contrast to 2009, when the county brought in $230,568; and 2010, when the sheriff’s office raised $114,324 in revenue.
The RBCSO Traffic Division has one full-time deputy, although any time the patrol division is shorthanded the traffic deputy position is vacated and transferred back to patrol, according to the sheriff’s office’s 2012 annual report.
In addition, the State of Colorado brought in $20,887 in 2012, raised through fines and surcharges added on as court costs during the court process. That figure compares to a similar $20,635 in 2011, which is well below the $25,008 raised in 2010 and $40,000 in 2009.
Total citations issued in 2012 numbered 1,549, down slightly from the 1,625 in 2011, but those figures are considerably lower than the 1,972 citations issued in 2010 and the 3,331 issued in 2009.
Of the $120,175 raised through RBCSO citations in 2012, $106,585 went to the Rio Blanco County general fund and $13,590 came from county surcharges added as court fees. That revenue is used for law enforcement training and equipment.
Of the $116,605 raised through citations in 2011, $103,551 went to the county’s general fund and $13,054 went to law enforcement through the county surcharges.
In 2012, State of Colorado surcharges totaled $20,887. Those court-added fees to the citations raised $12,362 to the state victim’s assistance fund; $775 went toward the family court fund; and $7,750 went to the state’s brain injury fund.
In 2011, of the $20,635 raised through state surcharges, $12,395 went to the state victim’s assistance fund; $749 went to the family court fund; and $7,491 went to the brain injury fund.
Following the trend of other crime and court activity, the total dollars raised in Rio Blanco County through citations remained flat in 2012 and 2011, which were both down sharply from 2010 and 2009, when fines totaled $127,967 and $204,783, respectively.