St. Johns County residents will soon be able to pay county traffic citations at the Ponte Vedra county annex instead of driving to the Judicial Center in St. Augustine.
Through a new partnership between the St. Johns County Tax Collector and the office of the Clerk & Comptroller, traffic citations are already being accepted at the county annex in Julington Creek. The service is expected to be available in Ponte Vedra in the next few weeks, and will be available to anyone with a St. Johns County traffic citation, regardless of the person’s county of residence.
“This is a true breakthrough in responsive local government,” St. Johns County Tax Collector Dennis W. Hollingsworth said.
Clerk & Comptroller Hunter Conrad added, “The idea behind this partnership has always been to expand our collective services to the people of St. Johns County in a long-term sustainable manner. After months of planning and preparation, it is exciting to finally be able to provide these services to this community.”
Both Hollingsworth and Conrad stressed, however, that the new venture will not require Tax Collector staff to conduct Clerk of Court services. Rather, Tax Collector staff will provide assistance to customers, who will pay citations online at an SJCOC terminal. Tax Collector staff will not accept payments or provide documentation. Payment must be by debit or credit card, and a 3.5 percent convenience fee will be charged at the online payment site.
“The real benefit will be realized by those customers with suspended driver licenses who visit our office,” Hollingsworth said. “Instead of having customers leave the building, knowingly driving on a suspended license, they can clear their Clerk of Court obligations in our office, (and) our staff will quickly receive electronic confirmation and resolve driver’s license issues in one stop.”
