Hempel Consulting

I just returned from the Denver County Court and WOW are they inefficient. Without a doubt, today’s experience made it to Lisa’s Top 10 List of How To Waste Taxpayer Dollars.

Last month I received a summons to appear in court because I had my dog, Cutter, at the park off leash, without his rabies tag. Guilty as charged! So off to court I go with evidence of vaccination and checkbook in hand. I expected to show up, turnover my documents, admit guilt and pay up.

Well, 90 minutes and seven interactions with six different people later, I was allowed to leave. Now in my estimation, if the court has to throw that many people at handling a crime, the resulting fine should be double the advertised rate. After all, I was the one who failed to manage my pooch properly and forced the court to intervene.

But nooooooo. It turns out that because I appeared in person I paid 50 percent less than the original fine, including court costs! If I had simply sent in my payment with proper documentation the cost would have been $120, end of story. Instead, I paid $66 and took up the time of two security guards, two court clerks, a city attorney, a magistrate and a finance manager. Absurdly inefficient, no?

Ok, now my head is spinning so here’s a proposal: Let law-breaking, dog owners mail in their docs and pay a fine of $75. If I fail to comply and have to appear in court, the minimum fine, regardless of guilt, will be double or $150. I’m willing to bet that the majority of offenders will comply and pay by mail. That means OPEX goes down and revenue goes up … hmmm, what a concept. Ok, it’s probably not that simple but c’mon, let’s focus our time, energy and tax dollars on issues that actually make a difference!

Rant over. Cutter on leash.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 3:18 pm and is filed under Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.