Alternative program helps keep Olive Branch tidy

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (AP) — DeSoto County traffic offenders have worked off $3,750 in fines in three months by picking up litter and performing landscaping duties at Olive Branch Old Towne.

The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/15dZiRk ) Justice Court Judge Ken Adams in December began offering people who "absolutely cannot pay their traffic fines" the option of working in Old Towne.

In 1997, Adams initiated the community service alternative, and the five Justice Court judges direct traffic offenders with unpaid fines to various opportunities.

Each violator collects up to four large garbage bags full of trash at a time.

Justice Network, a probation company, supervises the work program and is paid $35 a month by the offenders. That's far less than a $200-$300 traffic ticket, approximately the going rate for minor offenses.

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com