New bill could create loss of revenue to County

POMEROY-Katie Magill, Garfield County District Court Deputy, brought a new legislative issue to the attention of the Garfield County Commissioners at their regular meeting Monday, December 23, 2019. The new bill being considered in the Washington state legislature would change the penalty for non-payment of moving violations tickets. Currently, if someone is charged with a moving violation and does not pay the fine, or does not show up in court, the judge has the right to suspend their license or order jail time. This judgement can go into effect with the first violation non-payment. The bill now being considered would extend that penalty to go into effect after five occurrences of non-payment for moving violations.

According to Magill, the Garfield County District Court typically allows people 30 days to pay the fine, when the law requires it to be paid within 15 days. Also, non-payers are often offered a payment plan when necessary. Magill says they try very hard to work with people so that the fines can be paid without having to suspend their license. However, with the new bill, there would no longer be an incentive to pay the fines because the court would not be able to penalize them until they have accrued five unpaid fines. This would create a huge loss of revenue to the court.

Magill admitted that similar bills have been submitted to the state legislature before and voted down, but this time it appears there is more support at the state level. She wanted to let the commissioners know about it so they could take whatever action necessary to alert state legislators to what a detriment this bill would be to small rural counties, such as Garfield County, if it should pass.

Commissioner Justin Dixon reported to the other commissioners that he had attended a meeting last Friday, December 20, 2019, which included the Forest Service, in regards to updating a 20-year old Blue Mountain Forest Plan. Interested entities, mostly Oregon county officials, U.S. Forest Service, and the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, have formed the Blues Intergovernmental Council as an action group. They have asked for a representative from Garfield County to be a member as well. Once an updated plan has been completed, and has received approval from the U.S. Forest Service, there will be an opportunity for public comment and input. Dixon stated that he expects there will be some conflict with tribal entities as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He asked for permission from the other commissioners to become a member of the Blues Intergovernmental Council and attend the meetings. Commissioners Wynne McCabe and Bob Johnson agreed that it would be a good idea to be a voice and part of the update planning.

The commissioners were also presented with a letter from Magill requesting a change in job description and a change in title to District Court Administrator, which would include a pay increase from her current position. Dixon stated that he was not in favor of creating a new position. McCabe said he would be in favor of creating the position of District Court Administrator, especially in light of the fact that the district court judge is part-time, and only in court two days per month, leaving day-to-day duties of the court to Magill. However, McCabe is not in favor of the pay scale requested. Currently, the district court judge only receives 25% of the pay of a full-time judge. McCabe suggested that they delay a decision on Magill’s request until such time that the County can complete a wage study which is planned for early 2020. At that time they will be looking at wages paid in other similar counties, and at various positions being utilized by those counties, in an attempt to compare Garfield County’s wages to look for any inequities. It has only been about three years since they performed such a study.