Payments for Courts, Fines & Citations

Courts and citation offices collect fines, fees, bail and restitution, often in installments, and need payments posted to case records immediately.
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Payment solutions for courts, fines & citations

How these solutions fit courts, fines & citations

See what each option adds to the way your business takes and tracks payments.

Service Fees

For courts, fines & citations: Present service-fee rules clearly when collecting permit fees, public-service bills and registrations, with the fee and payment recorded separately. Card networks let eligible government, higher-education tuition and utility merchants charge a disclosed service fee, which is different from a retail surcharge or convenience fee. Court payments (MCC 9211 and 9222) are eligible for card-network service fee programs. Roots configures the service fee correctly for your merchant category and checks your state's rules.
  • Confirm your merchant category (including MCC 9311, 9399, 8220, 8249 or 4900) qualifies
  • Check state and local limits on fees
  • Configure fee display and receipts
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Online Bill Pay Portal

For courts, fines & citations: Give customers an online way to settle permit fees, public-service bills and registrations, using account references and outstanding bill balances. Roots builds branded bill-pay portals with payment collection, customer balances and transaction records. Book a free consultation to plan your portal and request a quote.
  • Discuss your business goals on a free consultation
  • Coordinate your provider introduction and setup
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Pay-by-Phone (IVR)

For courts, fines & citations: Let customers pay permit fees, public-service bills and registrations through an automated phone flow linked to the correct bill or account. An automated pay-by-phone line (IVR) lets defendants and the public pay courts and citation offices any time, without staff hearing or handling card numbers. Pay by phone 24/7 with case lookup. Roots sets up the IVR and connects it to your account records.
  • Script call flows and account lookup
  • Integrate with your billing system
  • Monitor call and payment completion
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Recurring Billing

For courts, fines & citations: Schedule and manage payments for scheduled public-service bills and payment plans, including renewals and customer account balances. Recurring billing lets courts and citation offices put fines, fees, citations, bail and restitution on an automatic schedule, charged to a saved card or bank account. Court-ordered payment plans on autopay. Roots builds the plans, retry rules and notifications, and connects them to your records.
  • Design payment plans (including 10-month or 12-month) for defendants and the public
  • Set retry, dunning and late-fee rules
  • Sync recurring payments to your accounting or management system
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Unattended Payments

For courts, fines & citations: Build self-service checkout for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations at kiosks, stations or access points that operate without a staffed counter. Unattended payment kiosks and readers let courts and citation offices take payments around the clock without a staffed counter. Kiosks at the courthouse cut lines at the clerk's window. Roots specifies the hardware, sets up processing and connects it to your back-office system.
  • Specify kiosk hardware and placement
  • Integrate with your account or giving system
  • Monitor devices and support them after launch
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Custom Payment Integration

For courts, fines & citations: Connect the payment flow for permit fees, public-service bills and registrations with your software and the operational records behind case references, bill balances and department totals. Payments are only half the job. Courts & Citations also need each payment posted to the right account, invoice or record automatically. Payments post to your case management system in real time. Roots scopes, builds and supports the integration.
  • Map how payments should post in your system
  • Build, test and host the integration
  • Support and maintain it as systems change
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Courts, Fines & Citations payment questions

Start with the workflows your business needs. Options on this page include Service Fee Programs for Courts & Citations, Online Bill Pay Portal for Courts, Pay-by-Phone IVR for Courts & Citations. Roots helps compare the setup, software and processing requirements around how you operate.
Yes. Bring your current POS, checkout or billing tools and recent processing statements. We review invoices, registration payments, recurring collections and reconciliation, then plan the changes your courts, fines & citations business needs.
Request a quote for your business. The review covers your payment mix, locations, software, hardware recommendations and implementation work. Consultations and payment reviews are free.
Bring recent payment statements, the systems you use and a record of how a customer places an order, receives a service or pays a bill. Tell us which courts, fines & citations workflows need to improve so we can scope a practical setup.

Let’s set up payments for your courts, fines & citation business

Book a free 30-minute payment review to compare costs, address payment problems and plan your next steps.
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