Why does a speeding ticket cost so much? Fees are added to the fine (KJRH)

By Karen Larsen

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TULSA – If you get caught driving too fast, you’ll find yourself facing a big fine.

In fact, from 1992 to 2015, speeding tickets have gone up 150 percent, according to the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

But why?

Whether an officer, deputy or trooper writes the ticket, the fine for speeding is the same. It’s $35 for a violation of 20 mph over the speed limit but, it’s the fees that push your real cost to $251.50. The breakdown of where your money is going:

• $35 – Speeding ticket
• $88 – Court costs (see graphic below for 2014 court fee totals)
• $25 – Court computers
• $20 – DA’s office
• $20 – Trooper’s vehicles
• $9 – CLEET training
• $5 – Sheriff’s office
• $10 – Courthouse security
• Part of it also goes to help pay for the law library and fingerprint ID system
• $10 – For a trauma center outside Tulsa

“That facility is in Norman, but we all pay for it across the state,” said Ryan Gentlzer works for a non-profit, non-partisan think tank that follows the money, the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

He found the courts charge a fee to help them collect fees, some of which don’t have anything to do with speeding.

“There are fees for child abuse that go on your speeding ticket even though the person who’s speeding didn’t necessarily commit child abuse.”

The reason for the long list of charges? No one at the capitol wants to raise taxes.

“So the legislature has found it very easy to tack a fee onto your speeding ticket or to a criminal case or civil case instead of going back and funding government the way it’s traditionally funded through taxes,” said Gentlzer.

“They might as well just raise taxes if they are going to fee you anyway. Might as well know what you are paying!,” laughed Milton Villanueva Macias, who we caught up with as he was headed to pay a speeding ticket.