While Collin County residents go about their daily lives, most are unaware of a new crime spree that is sweeping our county. Thousands of offenses against the peace have created a new class of criminal fugitive from justice.
Warrants are piling up, they come in faster than the constables and police can hope to keep up with them. Periodic warrant roundups can only scratch the surface of the mass of arrests needed to keep up with the papers that flow in daily to our constables office.
As of yesterday, there were 12,377 of these arrest warrants waiting to be served in Collin County.
About a third of the thirty thousand plus outstanding arrest warrants in Collin County are for this one crime - "Failure to pay tolls". It has become the leading reason to be wanted by the police in Collin County.
That's right, "Failure to pay tolls". No fooling.
"Failure to pay tools" is a crime without a witness, and a crime without a perpetrator. A computer decides that you didn't pay, it triggers a camera, which triggers a fine to the last registered owner of the vehicle.
It doesn't matter if you were driving or not; it doesn't matter if you were even there or not.
You don't have to actually commit a crime anymore to have a warrant issued for your arrest. All the tollway authority has to do is mail you a letter informing you of the fine. They don't even have to mail it to your right address. They don't have to prove you received the warning; they don't have to properly serve you any papers at all. The computer mails the letter, then after a while it sends a judge the warrant complaint.
Even then you're still not properly served. The first you might hear about you being wanted is when you are hauled off to county jail.
I remember when the NTTA first proposed the automated toll booths. We were told that since the fines were civil in nature, an "administrative fine", there need be no typical "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" burden that the US and Texas constitutions provide for all criminal defendants.
But now as the warrants pile up, we learn that while the fine may be civil, failure to pay it is a criminal offense.
If you drive on any of the tollways in the area, you might want to check and see if there is a warrant out for you.
If you are not on the list, the chances are that someone you know is.
Bill
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