The ideal candidates don't have a valid driver's license -- and maybe haven't had one for quite a while. But they still need to drive to work, to the grocery store, to pick up the kids at day care.

Every time they're stopped, they get another driving-after-suspension citation, another fine and another court fee. The fines and fees can quickly add up to thousands of dollars.

A pilot program set to begin July 1 in St. Paul, West St. Paul, South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights and Duluth offers a carrot-and-stick approach to help those drivers get legal. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety limited the number of cities to participate initially, but Minneapolis and other cities may be allowed to join later.

The cities will work with Financial Crimes Services, a private company based in Red Wing, and the state Department of Public Safety (DPS). Participants, who will be chosen by prosecutors, will receive a "diversion license," similar in all respects to a regular driver's license except to those behind the scenes. A bill approved by the Legislature this spring allows the DPS to issue such a license. In the past, a driver had to pay all outstanding fines and fees up front before they could get their license back.

State records show that more than 14,000 Minnesotans have been ticketed at least five times for driving without a valid driver's license since January 1997. That includes 107 people who have been ticketed more than 20 times.

Some of those individuals will be eligible for the pilot program. Those with more serious offenses on their record won't. Organizers still have some details to work out, but Scott Adkisson, president of Financial Crimes Services, said he anticipates serving about 7,000 people in the first 18 months.

No cost to taxpayers

The program won't cost taxpayers a dime, organizers said. The participants will pay a $150 fee to Financial Crimes Services. They must take a class on budgeting, financial management and life skills. In return, the company will determine how much is owed and to whom and set up a payment plan that's within their budget. Adkisson said the company is working with an insurance company to allow participants to make monthly, rather than annual or biannual, payments for auto insurance. Participants also will get a special checking account to help them reestablish credit.

"It's like having people," said Kori Land, city attorney for West St. Paul, South St. Paul and Inver Grove Heights. "Everybody needs people. These are their people."

So what's the stick? Participants who don't follow through with the program could be prosecuted, organizers said.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, who is police chief in Lake Crystal, spoke in favor of the bill at a hearing in the House on March 10. "Usually I'm for locking everybody up and throwing away the keys," he said. "Especially if it's a bonehead out there trying to prove his or her authority by driving on a suspended license just because they can.

"But in this case, a number of officers have relayed to me that it's like you said, a revolving wheel. They get three, four, five tickets and they get picked up and the trooper or whoever says, 'Why are you out here driving?' and he or she says, 'I gotta get to work.' Some of them are just a victim of the process and they'd like to change the cycle."

The fine for one driving-after-suspension citation is $200 plus court costs, but multiple citations, late fees and penalties can ultimately land people in debt for thousands of dollars.

Breaking the cycle

The pilot program's goal is to break that cycle and ultimately save time and money for a court system that's already stretched thin by budget cuts.

St. Paul City Attorney John Choi said last week that his office handles about 15,000 cases a year and about a third of those are traffic-related. The current system, he said, treats traffic offenses as a "collection matter" and creates a revolving door for those who really want to get a valid license and chronic repeat offenders alike.

"If we want to focus on outcomes, what we really need to do is very strategically look at who's coming into the system, look at who we can prevent from coming back into the system and separate out those who need to be prosecuted," Choi said.

Drivers can lose their license for having an unpaid speeding ticket, unpaid child support, no proof of insurance and myriad other infractions. People charged with one alcohol-related offense, such as drunken driving, are eligible to participate if they have completed their punishment and the only thing left for them to do is pay the fines and fees.

The program isn't for folks like, oh, R.T. Rybak, for example. The Minneapolis mayor drove without a valid license for nearly three months in 2008 -- his license had been suspended because he failed to pay the full amount of a 2006 speeding ticket. He paid up in mid-May 2008, and his license was reinstated.

"If this is your first one, you're better off just paying the fine and being done with it," Choi said. "But the actual scenario in a lot of these cases is they're driving because they have these outstanding fees and they can't pay them off."

'A promising idea'

The Legislature approved the pilot program for two years; it must be revisited in 2011. Although the city of Minneapolis is not part of the initial program, City Attorney Susan Segal said a provision was added to the bill that allows other cities to join it in the future.

"I do think it is a promising idea and potentially a more effective response than what we're doing currently on these cases," Segal said. "We'll review the pilot and if that appears as promising as it should be we would be interested in joining."

The numbers in Minneapolis are similar to those in the cities participating in the program -- about one-third of the cases handled in any given year are traffic offenses, Segal said.

The numbers are similar in Land's territory.

"These are not bad people, they just make some bad choices," Land said.

"My brother gave me some advice when I started prosecution: Put the bad guys in jail but let the good guys go. That's how I see this program."

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992