SEQUIM — District 1 Court Judge John Doherty and his re-election opponent, Rick Porter, squared off again over their differences about collecting fines, this time before Tuesday’s meeting of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Doherty favors using an agency to collect fines and fees, while Porter says he would institute a pay-or-appear system.
Each man also pointed fingers at the system favored by the other, saying it doesn’t work.
The pay-or-appear system is used in Clallam County Superior Court.
But Doherty points to more than $7 million in unpaid fines and fees in Superior Court as the reason the District 1 Court should stay with a collection company.
Porter says the more than $6 million owed to the county through District 1 Court fines and fees is the reason he’d adopt the pay-or-appear method.
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