Thursday, April 30, 1998 | 10:33 a.m.
NORTH LAS VEGAS -- Five new employees could generate millions of dollars for a city that has fallen behind on collecting fines and providing money-making services.
North Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge Warren VanLandschoot petitioned the City Council during this week's budget sessions for four more clerks and another bailiff.
He said the added personnel will allow the city to finally collect court fines that have gone unpaid for years.
"I know where the gold mine is," VanLandschoot said. "But right now I don't have the equipment to get it out."
Paperwork listing names of thousands of residents who haven't paid fines plaster the wall in the court administration office. VanLandschoot estimates that $3 million worth of fines have yet to be collected.
"There is revenue sitting out there and we're not going after it," VanLandschoot told council members. "I want to go after it and I need these five people to do it."
The judge said the first task for the new staff would be to weed out the violators who are spending lengthy sentences in state prison or have died. Then, he said, he plans to track down the others and work out a payment plan.
VanLandschoot said the city has previously tried using correction agencies to force residents to pay their fines, but found the firms don't carry as much authority as a government entity.
City Councilwoman Paula Brown said the number of unpaid fees doesn't surprise her. North Las Vegas has four fewer employees and 10,000 more cases than it had in 1995. The city simply hasn't had the manpower to go after people.
"This didn't just happen seven months ago," she said. "This has happened over the years. This is cleanup work."
VanLandschoot said the additional staff also will help operate the city's new traffic school program, which will hold its first class on Tuesday.
Tired of watching residents pump thousands of dollars into Las Vegas' general fund, the judge recently convinced North Las Vegas to provide the classes itself.
The city will initially offer four classes to provide drivers ticketed for moving violations an opportunity to avoid points on their records.
Each class will accommodate 30 people, who will pay $30 apiece. VanLandschoot said the school will generate nearly $150,000 a year for the city's coffers. Ultimately, North Las Vegas will offer seven classes, which will produce a quarter million dollars a year.
VanLandschoot said he is surprised the city has never before offered traffic school.
"I don't understand what happened all these years," VanLandschoot said Wednesday. "People want to go to school and we owe it to them to provide the service."
Councilwoman Brown credited VanLandschoot for finding creative ways to bring money to the city.
"We've never had an innovative judge before," Brown said. "It's the first time in a long time that a judge has worked in tandem with the council and citizens."
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