By Cynthia Beasley
Published: Jun. 19, 2024 at 11:16 PM EDT
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Columbia Municipal Court has been overcharging drivers for a traffic violation for more than seven years. The court has been fining people $232.50 for what should be $25. Of the 129 people whose cases have been closed since a state law set the fine at $25 in 2017, only nine were charged the correct $25 fine. According to online court records, Columbia Municipal Court wrongly fined more than $22,000, WIS Investigates found.
A trip down Rosewood Drive in Columbia led one man to uncover this major error within the city court system.
”I was coming down Rosewood. And a vehicle was getting into the turning lane, and he rapidly applied his brakes. So, I signaled and went around him,” Tony Gradel said. A Columbia Police officer pulled Gradel over on June 3 and wrote Gradel a ticket for “changing lanes unlawfully.”
“Even though a signal was done and there was proper spacing between the cars,” Gradel said.
The fine on the ticket for the blinker violation was $232.50.
“I thought it seemed a bit excessive. So, naturally, I looked into it,” Gradel said.
Gradel Googled the violation listed on his ticket.
In less than 10 minutes, Gradel found section 56-5-2150 of the state law clearly states a violator “must be fined twenty-five dollars.”
It also says no court costs, assessments surcharges or points can be assessed against the person or his driving record.
“How was this missed? How are the people that are in charge of upholding the justice system not reading our laws?” Gradel said.
Of 129 people whose cases have been closed since the law changed, online court records show 99 people were fined the incorrect amount of 232.50. In a statement, city officials say the Municipal Court also identified 99 people impacted by that error.
Online court records show some others were charged an additional 3% collections fee. Some defendants were charged other amounts more than $25. A few defendants weren’t charged at all but were given credit for time served for other related charges.
According to online court records, Columbia Municipal Court fined people a total of almost $26,000 for this violation.
If all of those people had been fined $25, that number would have been about $3,225.
A spokesperson for the City of Columbia said staff was “unavailable for an interview.”
He emailed a statement from Columbia Municipal Court and Columbia Police Department acknowledging the error.
The agencies had the system changed on June 5, two days after Gradel was ticketed, to fine violators the correct $25. The statement also says officials are in the process of reimbursing those who were over-fined.
The South Carolina Judicial Branch wrote in a statement that, after the 2017 law was enacted, it updated the court management systems across the state to fine violators just $25. Exactly how Columbia’s system continued to fine violators more than $25 is unclear.
“Unfortunately, this fine change was not uploaded to the City of Columbia’s Municipal Court’s Management System, which was under the responsibility of Richland County at the time,” the statement from the City of Columbia said.
“We have researched the Judicial Branch’s call tracking software and found no request for the City of Columbia’s default amount to be changed to $232.50,” a spokesperson for the South Carolina Judicial Branch said.
The South Carolina Judicial Branch confirmed that Richland County’s IT department supported the City of Columbia until May 2023.
“A request could have been made to that department to make a change if they had the capability to do so,” a spokesperson for the South Carolina Judicial Branch said.
The director of Richland County’s IT department is searching through the department’s system to see if the City of Columbia submitted a request to change the fine amount.
Gradel’s hearing for his ticket is next month.
Online court records show the fine in his case is now correct: $25.
“If nobody brought this up, they would have continued doing it,” Gradel said.
Full statement from Columbia Municipal Court and Columbia Police Department :
“In 2017, the State of South Carolina amended the fine for “3875-Traffic/Failure to give or giving improper turn signal, stop signal, etc.” from $232.50 to $25.00. Unfortunately, this fine change was not uploaded to the City of Columbia’s Municipal Court’s Management System, which was under the responsibility of Richland County at the time. According to the SCDMV, when the fine was amended by the state of South Carolina on May 19, 2017, the SCDMV updated their system to not assess any points for this type of violation after the effective date of the law change. Since becoming aware of this issue on June 4, 2024, the City of Columbia Municipal Court made immediate contact with the South Carolina Judicial Branch (SCJB), who manages the Municipal Court’s Management System, and the changes were finalized on June 5, 2024 to reflect the correct fine amount. The Columbia Police Department is updated on all fines and have been given these lowered fines. Presently, the Municipal Court has identified 99 individuals that were affected by this error and we are in the process of reimbursing everyone for the overcharged amount. We will continue to review cases that may have been impacted and reimburse anyone that has been affected.”
Full statement from the South Carolina Judicial Branch:
“In June of 2017, the South Carolina Judicial Branch updated the Case Management System (CMS) for all court agencies that are on the statewide CMS to reflect the correct fine amount of $25 with no assessments or surcharges for the CDR Code 3875. We have researched the Judicial Branch’s call tracking software and found no request for the City of Columbia’s default amount to be changed to $232.50. However, prior to May of 2023, the City of Columbia was supported by the Richland County’s IT Department and a request could have been made to that department to make a change, if they had the capability to do so. You may want to contact the Richland County IT Department because it may have a tracking system to track requests it received. Once the discrepancy was brought to the attention of the SC Judicial Branch Call Center on June 5, 2024, the default fine amount was corrected for the City of Columbia only, all other courts had the correct default amount.”
Here is fines and cases from May 2017 to June 2024:
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