SILER CITY — The Board of Commissioners has approved a new agreement between the police department and iTicket.law to fulfill requests for driving records in exchange for a small fee.
iTicket.law is an online service that connects individuals who have received traffic tickets with legal representation. The firm's attorneys, in turn, submit requests for driving and ticket records to help with the defense.
The agreement, approved at the June 3 Commissioners meeting, will see the Siler City police department hire a new records clerk to help with the expected influx of driver's license record requests from iTicket.law.
“They currently have an agreement with Orange County Sheriff’s Office where they have an employee that runs their driver’s license checks, and they have an average between 3,500 to 4,000 requests a month,” said Siler City Police Chief Brian Regan. Orange County, the chief said, currently gets around $5 per records request.
“There’s an opportunity for us at the police department to take this on. It would require us to hire a full-time records clerk, and then this person would be running 3,500 to 4,000 requests," the Chief told the board. "This is legal. We have all the capabilities through [Division of Criminal Information]. We’re set up for this process. It takes about five hours a day to accomplish all of this and we’re working on some processes as far as how we would get these record checks to them. There are a lot of options on the table, but we think we can make a smooth transition with that.”
Regan also mentioned that another goal would be to hire a "second shift" clerk, allowing the police department to stay open later on weekdays. The existing records clerk would receive a title bump and pay raise for supervising the new clerk.
“I’m all for it because it’s going to bring revenue into us, and these are items that these guys are going to have to have,” said Records Supervisor Andrea Smith’s said.
Regan estimates it could bring in some $200,000 in yearly revenue for the department.
“Procedurally, it just makes sense to me,” said Mayor Pro Tem Lewis Fadely. “I think it’s a win-win.”
The Siler City Board of Commissioners will next meet on July 15.