There is a misconception about where the funds go that the East Carroll Parish Sheriff’s Office receives from traffic citations, according to Sheriff Wydette Williams. Unlike the town police department, where revenue from citations goes directly into its coffers, the sheriff’s office disburses citation monies across several different parish agencies, per state law.
“Citations are written as a must to maintain public safety,” said Williams. “They are not written to obtain revenue, though that money does benefit the criminal justice system in our parish.”
The sheriff says that many people assume the sheriff’s office is getting all or most of the money from writing tickets and therefore believe that they have an incentive to write them. This is not the case, he says.
Williams says that the revenue that is collected from traffic citations is disbursed to the numerous agencies per orders of state law. Here are some of the agencies that receive some funding from traffic citations: sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office, clerk of court office, Indigent Defendant Board, judicial expenses, crime lab, criminal victim’s account.
The bottom line, said the sheriff, is still about public safety.
“We have a lot of vehicles in town that have no license tags or insurance, things required by law to operate on the roadways. The public has no idea how many accidents we have in this parish where the at fault driver has none of the required documentation to even be operating on the road. That means when someone’s car is damaged or they are injured in such an accident, they are unable to make it whole,” said Wiliams.
The sheriff said the parish has had numerous fatalities relating to traffic accidents over the last few years, and he said that the public has asked law enforcement agencies to crack down more on people speeding, driving recklessly, or under the influence. “We all want ourselves and our loved ones to make it home safe every night, and stopping people who are operating vehicles in a manner that can create an unsafe environment for others on the roadways is essential.”
