INDIANAPOLIS -- The Marion County Clerk’s Office has made changes to the traffic court system following questions from Call 6 Investigates and concerns from the public.
Call 6 Investigates found many callers could not get through to talk to the traffic court about their tickets or court dates.
Some people were greeted with a recording about a “high volume of calls” and hung up on.
Previously, the traffic court recording would not allow callers to leave messages and many complained about driving to the east side location at 8115 E. Washington Street.
“There is no getting through,” said north side resident Roderick Mays who visited the Marion County Traffic Court this week. “You’ve got to travel here from the north, east, south, west, it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. You’ve got a long drive, so get ready for it.”
Months after Call 6 Investigates started asking questions about the phone system, the Marion County Clerk’s Office revealed they’ve made significant improvements.
CALL 6 | Drivers complain traffic court not answering phone
“I would say the phone system is fixed," said Russell Hollis, spokesperson for the Marion County Clerk’s Office, the agency who oversees the court’s phones.
Under the new phone system:
When you call the traffic court at (317) 327-5738:
- You hear an announcement telling you to go to mycase.in.gov for more information on your case, and then you are placed in a queue
- If 60 seconds passes, you’ll hear another announcement
- If another 60 seconds passes, you’ll hear another announcement
- If another 30 seconds passes, your call will be transferred to voicemail
“Yes, if you call in you may have to wait, but you'll have the option to leave a voicemail," said Hollis.
Also, the new system should not hang up on you.
“We do understand the value of good customer service,” said Hollis. “People calling in to get information about their case or paying traffic tickets, that’s important. This was done as a response to concerns from the public, emails and calls, as well as Call 6’s investigation and it’s something we started to look into as well.”
Customers said the changes are long overdue.
“It’s about time,” said Mays.
When Call 6 Investigates stopped by on Monday, several traffic court workers were answering the phones.
“We have increased the number of people answering the phones,” said Hollis.
The Clerk’s Office has not yet released the cost of the phone system improvements; however, they were handled as part of the agency’s regular IT budget for the year.
Busy times for the traffic court office include first thing in the morning and during lunch time.
