Your lead foot buys books
Ottawa County, Michigan sent this bulletin at 07/20/2018 08:25 AM EDT |
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July 20, 2018 | Media Contact
Your lead foot buys books
Do you have a lead foot? While we are not urging you to drive above the speed limit, your costly speeding ticket has a silver lining. A portion of the fines paid to the courts from criminal violations and civil infractions is distributed to local libraries. This year, Ottawa County fines netted nine public libraries a total of $749,943.
The Michigan State Constitution of 1963, requires that all penalties collected for violations of the state penal laws be divide into court costs, statutory fees, and penal fees. The penal fines support public libraries and a county law library.
“Prior year payouts have ranged from $700,000 to over $950,000 depending on the number of citations written using the state penal code and the fines levied by the court,” said Brad Slagh, Ottawa County Treasurer.
Diane Kooiker, the Director of Herrick District Library in Holland, said, “Penal fine revenue is an extremely important component of library funding. Herrick District Library relies on penal fine revenue to provide physical and electronic resources, programming and services for library users”.
The amount paid to each public library is determined by the percentage of the county population living in the area which each library has an agreement to serve. The Library of Michigan-Department of Education dictates the eligible libraries and its associated population.
Bradley Slagh | Ottawa County Treasurer | 616-994-4505
Diane Kooiker | Director of Herrick District Library | 616-335-3723
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Ottawa County is located on Lake Michigan’s spectacular freshwater coastline where nature is cherished and protected. More than the lakeshore, you’ll find the people of Ottawa County friendly yet driven, working hard to succeed in charming downtown small businesses, at manufacturing hubs with global impact and on acres passed down from generations. We embrace creativity and believe that diversity makes us stronger. We resolve that our public services must be high-quality and cost-effective. We are innovative and never wait for someone to solve our problems for us. We are friendly neighbors chipping in, lending a hand and making sure you know Ottawa County is where you belong.
Ottawa County | 12220 Fillmore Street | West Olive | Michigan | 49460 | 616-738-4000
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners:
Chairman Greg DeJong | Vice-Chairman Roger Bergman | Philip Kuyers | Jim Holtvluwer | Don Disselkoen | Matt Fenske | Al Dannenberg | Mike Haverdink | Joe Baumann | Frank Garcia | Kelly Kuiper
The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners meets the second and fourth Tuesdays each month at 1:30PM. The public is welcome and encouraged to participate. Meetings are held in the Board Room located at 12220 Fillmore Street, West Olive, Michigan.
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