Outsourced Traffic Tickets In Orange County?

ASSOCIATED PRESS

2:37 p.m. July 31, 2007

SANTA ANA – The Orange County Superior court will stop processing traffic tickets in Nogales, Mexico, following a public outcry over the practice.

Court officials on Monday amended the contract with the company that handles the tickets, Cal Coast Data Entry. Beginning Friday, Cal Coast will process all of the court's tickets at its Cerritos and Phoenix locations, court spokeswoman Carole Levitsky said in a statement.

The controversy erupted last week, when KFI radio's “John & Ken Show” attacked the outsourcing and urged listeners to complain. Hundreds called and e-mailed the court and county supervisors.

“We took this very seriously. We're concerned with the public's confidence,” said Chelle Uecker, the court's assistant chief executive officer.

The court has contracted with the Cerritos-based Cal Coast since March 2006. Information from tickets – including driver's license numbers, car license numbers, birth dates and addresses – has been scanned at the Cerritos facility and sent electronically to the Nogales branch.

The court has said the information was sent by electronic encryption and that the company has state-of-the-art security.

Uecker said that Cal Coast, which gets $752,000 a year for processing about 500,000 traffic tickets, was cooperative in amending the contract.

From SignOnSanDiego.com - the Union Tribune.