La. R.S. 13:1898 allows a municipal governing authority to contract with a third party collection agency to collect “fines forfeitures, penalties and costs” of the city court.

The language of these statutes prohibit the Department from contracting with a collection agency for parking citations and authorizes the municipal governing authority (not the Department) to contract with a collection agency for the collection of unpaid city court fines, but they do not address whether the Department may contract with a collection agency for the collection of city court fines.

See also AG Op. No. 13-0061 (hospital service district may sell its “uncollectible” accounts to a third party collection agency after all reasonable recovery efforts are exhausted)

The municipality may wish to obtain an AG opinion on this matter.