[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Kristin Helm, a spokeswoman for the TBI, told The Tennessean that the agency had to cut $4 million from its budget last year and needed additional revenue to keep crime lab agents. The agency had considered charging local law enforcement agencies for submitting evidence and completing DNA testing.

.... God forbid a .gov tough-feeder get laid off...

[Texas resident]

Wouldn’t it be something if all the drivers in Tennessee drove very carefully so as to not get tickets.
Then what? Kind of like redlight cameras.
The cameras were to be funded by ticket revenue from the red light runners. Drivers got wise and quit running red lights and the revenue dried up. Then the city had to shut down the cameras because they didn’t have the revenue to fund them.
That happened in Dallas, Texas

[Clintonfatigued]

Tennessee ping

[Nonsense Unlimited]

So if everyone contests the tickets, there are no additional fines for them and it costs the state a ton more money to process all the court appearances.

Am I missing something here?

[EGPWS]

Tennesseans could be charged up to nearly $70 more for traffic tickets under a new state law that takes effect next month and is intended to fund crime lab services for law enforcement agencies.

So much for traffic laws being enacted for the safety of the public.

[EGPWS]

But motorists complain the extra charge is too much on top of already expensive fines taxes.

[Genoa]

The tax rates for property a very low in TN, and there is no state income tax (it’s political suicide to suggest it). Add to that the effect of the bad economy. But: demand for services is up, up, up. State and local governments are feeling the heat in the sun belt.

[apillar]

The last time I got a ticket (about 10 years ago) it looked something like this:

Speeding, less than 10mph over limit $20.00

Court Costs $50.00

Regional Jail Fund $30.00

Sheriffs Fund $15.00

Magistrate Fund $15.00

The "fees" were 5 times the fine, and I've heard that they've raised a couple and tacked some new ones on since then. A few years ago, some enterprising attorney won a case that the gist of was that the defendent's license could not be suspended if he only paid the fine portion because, the law said suspension was only for "unpaid fines". (The DMV and been interpreting it broadly as any unpaid court fees) As soon as that hit the local news, the legislature quickly changed the law to "unpaid fines, fees, and court costs"

[SmithL]

California uses tickets as a cash cow. A $70 fine gets jacked up to $400-$500 by the time all the state and local “fees” are added to the fine. And judges who were once willing to reduce a fine for someone who pleaded guilty and said “I’m sorry” are now only willing to give extra time to pay the fines.

[WKUHilltopper]

“Sen. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, sponsored the legislation, which he said was necessary to prevent massive TBI layoffs or increased costs to local law enforcement agencies that need the lab services to investigate crimes.”

So be expecting for us to cash in with radar checks everywhere, you bunch of blood bags to be sucked off of.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Sounds like a built-in incentive for everyone to contest their ticket (which will drive up costs twenty-five fold)

[org.whodat]

Old randy needs to have his ass voted out of office.

[EdReform]

Note to self: Upgrade radar detector before next trip through Tennessee.

[Ron H.]

Take the needed money from the currently seized assets that the state LEO's confiscate from alleged drug related seizures. No wait, that money must go to further arm the many PD's SWAT teams so that they can get all decked out like RAMBO while issuing these citations to citizens and all the while hoping citizens will just make their day by looking at them cross-eyed. (mild   )