New County Program Checks For Fines, Warrants When Person Registers Cars

El Paso County leaders say their new Scofflaw Verification Program is a huge success.

As ABC-7 has reported — the program checks for outstanding fines, fees and warrants before allowing driver’s to register their vehicles.

The program — which will not allow you to register a car without clearing all those fines, fees and warrants — actually went into effect about five months ago. And in that five months, County Tax Assessor-Collector Victor Flores says they’ve already collected nearly $1 million.

Flores said that was the goal for the entire first year of the program. But now he projects the county could collect nearly $2.5 million in outstanding fines, fees and warrants this year. That’s cash that could come in handy considering the tough budget situation that the County is facing.

“This is all new money,” Flores said, “when we’re really needing the money and certainly it has helped out the City also. It’s something that’s being picked up and raising eyebrows throughout the state of Texas.”

About 75 percent of the money stays right here in El Paso and as Flores said, the rest of the state has taken note of this new program and is looking to implement similar measures.

Related LinkLink:www.epcounty.com/check