It can get mighty hot on Camp Circle in DeKalb County. I know because I recently stood out in the sun for almost an hour waiting to get inside Recorders Court. My son was contesting his first traffic citation, and I had gone along for fatherly support.
We arrived about 20 minutes before his scheduled 2 p.m. court session. The only problem was that we hadn't arrived early enough. By then the line of people waiting to pass through the court's security checkpoint was halfway around the block and getting longer by the minute.
As people in lines will do, we chatted with our neighbors. One man sarcastically wished he had thought to bring a lawn chair. Someone behind him wondered if the court had ever thought about providing free sunscreen. Most of us were able to see the humor in this situation.
Then one woman voiced a complaint that I'm sure had occurred to many of us. She was indignant about having to take valuable time off from work for this. "Ain't no way to treat people," she said, and I couldn't have agreed with her more.
After the line began to move at 2 p.m., it took us another 20 minutes to reach the security checkpoint. Once there we were required to empty our pockets and then pass through a full-body scanner. Because neither my son nor I possessed anything more dangerous than a key ring, we moved quickly through the checkpoint and retrieved our possessions. At last we were inside. Unfortunately, the Recorders Court had one more surprise.
I was told by a uniformed officer that because I didn't have a traffic citation I was not allowed in the courtroom and would have to exit the building. If this information was posted anywhere I didn't see it, nor had any of the other people who were headed back outside with me.
If you've never received a traffic citation in DeKalb, consider yourself lucky. You've avoided a bureaucratic nightmare that borders on the surreal. If you do get ticketed, however, you might want to consider entering a guilty plea and paying your fine by telephone. That way you won't have to stand outside on Camp Circle in the hot sun, or the pouring rain, or the wind and cold. You also won't have to make two trips to Recorders Court: one to enter your not guilty plea, and a second a month or two later when your case is actually heard.
Maybe you think this is a minor inconvenience suffered by a small number of fools who break traffic laws. Think again. DeKalb County police are projected to issue 222,218 traffic citations in 2009. That's a lot of fools.
It's also projected that the Recorders Court will receive $21,736,611 in 2009. That's a lot of money. Some may be yours.
Rick Diguette has lived in DeKalb County for more than 20 years. He teaches at Georgia Perimeter College.
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