Title
Consider a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an lnterlocal Cooperation Contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for participation in the Failure to Appear (FTA) Program.
Body
In cooperation with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Failure to Appear Program places a ‘flag’ on a driver’s license if someone has not responded to their citation or failed to pay associated fines. This resolution is in response to a change made by the Texas legislature in which the fees collected from the defendant have been renamed and a portion have been reallocated.
The revised contract is offered by the Texas Department of Public Safety to accommodate chapter 706 of the Texas Transportation Code. The agreement allows the court to flag a person’s driver’s license if they do not respond to their citation or fail to pay their fines. The original contract was entered by resolution No. R-97-03-27-11B on the 27th day of March 1997; revised by resolution No R-12-09-13-F4 on the 13th day of September 2012. Formerly, the court was authorized to collect a fee from each defendant this hold applies to, of $30.00 ($20.00 reported to the State, $6.00 reported to Omnibase, the vendor for the Texas Department of Public Safety that facilitates the Failure to Appear Program, and the City retains $4.00). The $20.00 collected on behalf of the State has now been reallocated to the mandated State court costs the court is required to collect. The remaining $10.00 has been renamed to a reimbursement fee.