Municipal Court clerk talks truths of court at Republican luncheon

LIMA - Sharing observations from his first year and a half as Lima Municipal Court clerk, Ben Diepenbrock joked that he was going to avoid dollars and percentages.

The former Allen County auditor and accountant almost succeeded.

Speaking Friday at the Allen County Republican luncheon, Diepenbrock weighed in on what he called some of the "plain truths" he's seen with the city's court.

For one, too many people are driving without insurance or without a license.

He said he has also been interested in the number of people in court for drunk driving.

Out of 20 traffic cases before Judge William Lauber Friday morning, 16 were either operating a vehicle under the influence or driving under suspension.

"I think that's a serious concern we have within our county," Diepenbrock said.

The weak economy also has affected the court's workload.

Diepenbrock said evictions are up, as are wage garnishments - up 24 percent - and bank garnishments - up 26 percent - from the first five months of 2008. Criminally, several serious crimes have been up, specifically theft, assault and domestic violence.

He also said that for less serious crimes, the fine may be considerably less than court costs. A first-degree misdemeanor could be $25 or $50, but a defendant will pay $80 in court costs.

Sometimes it proves difficult for the court to collect fines and costs, large or small.

"We want you to know that we take the fines and court costs issue very seriously and we make every attempt to collect on those because if we don't the burden falls on the taxpayers again and we already pay too much in taxes," Diepenbrock said.

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