Audit says KC-area town broke speed trap law by keeping excess revenue

A small Kansas City area town has been deriving much of its revenue from traffic tickets, apparently violating a Missouri law intended to discourage speed traps, a state audit said Wednesday.

Auditor Susan Montee estimated between half and two-thirds of Randolph’s revenue last year came from tickets issued for violations on state or federal highways.

Randolph is a community of about 50 people surrounded by Kansas City on three sides and the Missouri River on the fourth. Its main road is Missouri Highway 210, which connects motorists from Interstate 435 on the west side of town to the Ameristar Casino just east of the town.

A Missouri law intended to discourage speed traps limits municipalities to generating no more than 35 percent of their operating revenues from fines and court costs for traffic violations on state and federal highways. Any amount over that must be submitted to the state for distribution to local schools.

The audit said Randolph had general revenues of $270,043 in 2009. Of that, the audit estimated between $134,090 and $148,393 came from traffic violations on state or federal roads.

But Randolph turned over none of that money to the state. The audit said the town and its municipal court had no procedures to track tickets issued on state and federal roads nor to determine how much money should be turned over to the Missouri Department of Revenue.

In a written response attached to the audit, Randolph Municipal Judge Gregory Dorsey said the city attorney has been instructed to determine the amount of past excess traffic ticket revenues so it can be paid to the state. He said the court is using new computer software to guard against any future violations of the state traffic ticket law.

The Randolph mayor and police chief — neither of whom are full-time municipal employees — did not immediately return telephone messages left Wednesday at the town’s government office.

The audit also cited poor procedures for handling tickets and posting bonds.

It said the municipal court had four boxes of unpaid tickets — estimated to exceed 600 tickets — where the defendant had failed to appear in court and yet warrants had not been issued.

The audit said numerous defendants were released from custody without posting the proper bond nor getting approval from the municipal judge for a different bond. In one case, an individual was released on $30 bond when the bond schedule called for $500, the audit said. The person, who had been cited for six violations including drug possession, later failed to appear for his court date.

The audit said Randolph does not have a jail or any place to hold defendants, and its practice is for police to take as bond any money defendants have with them — sometimes without the approval or knowledge of the municipal judge.

The judge said in a written response to the audit that police officers have been instructed not to alter the conditions of bonds without approval from the court.

Montee spokeswoman Allison Bruns said the office recently has received numerous complaints about alleged speed traps in Missouri towns. She said the auditor plans to put the municipal courts in those places on a priority list to be audited.