Benton Harbor City Commissioners have approved a resolution to create a Municipal Civil Infractions Bureau with the ability to collect the fines issued for minor civil infractions.

At Monday’s regular meeting, commissioners unanimously voted in favor of City Manager Alex Little’s proposal to bring the collection of those fines in-house so someone issued a ticket for a minor violation can pay the fine at city hall, rather than going through the county court system. Commissioner Sharon Henderson noted this idea has gone through three city committees, giving commissioners plenty of opportunities to understand it.

“And with that, I’m glad to see this particular item be talked about, get established so that this can happen in the city,” Henderson said. “So I’m glad that we set that system up that it goes through multiple committees and get multiple eyes on it.”

Little previously told commissioners when tickets for things like beach or rental code violations are paid in the courts, most of the money never comes back to Benton Harbor. Commissioner Diedre Fields called the new bureau positive for the city and residents, considering how these infractions are handled now.

“Like for loud music, because it’s a misdemeanor,” Fields said. “Because it goes over to the court versus us having it here local and us getting all the funds associated with it. So we would leave out the whole court system unless we need to go to the next step.”

Also Monday, commissioners approved fine schedule associated with the new bureau. Fines include things like $500 for not cleaning up after a dog to $250 for rental registration violations to $150 for pets at Jean Klock Park. Fields suggested a campaign be launched to educate residents with suggestions including the distribution of flyers and putting up posters at the water payment center.