State Rep. John Thompson still owes $3,000 in court fines

The controversial state representative from St. Paul is back in the news, allegedly interfering with a police traffic stop of his adult daughter.

You can read the details on his latest run-in with St. Paul’s finest here. It does not appear that he will face any charges out of this newest incident.

He has his own battles to fight, trying to win re-nomination to represent his St. Paul district in the state House of Representatives. Although now classified as an Independent since his expulsion from the Democrats’ House caucus, he is running for re-nomination as a Democrat for this fall’s race.

Local Democrats have endorsed a different candidate for his seat for this year’s election. Thompson could still choose to run in the August primary election or run as an independent in the November election.

Meanwhile, his total of unpaid court fines has ballooned back up to $3,001. This dollar amount represents 26 separate citations over a twenty-year period in both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

From the 26 incidents. he has paid his court fines in full in only three cases. Since last we checked, Thompson has received another parking ticket. He continues to pay down a handful of past tickets under a payment plan he began last year.

Of the $3,001 total, the State of Minnesota has written off $1,308 in unpaid fines more than a decade old. He appears to have benefitted from a smaller write-off in Wisconsin. The pattern runs like this: the court levies a fine, he doesn’t pay. The court adds a penalty, he doesn’t pay. The court sends the balance to collections, he doesn’t pay. Ten years later, it all gets written off.

Part of the problem for the collections agencies, of course, is that no one knows where Thompson lives. But as of now, he still works at the state capitol.