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Court clerk charged with fixing own tickets

Former Hennepin County courts employee accused of fixing her own parking tickets, avoiding $5,000 in fines and late fees.

By Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune

Last update: October 26, 2007 – 10:01 AM
A seven-year Hennepin County District Court clerk faces charges in connection with allegedly fixing 73 of her own parking tickets, avoiding $5,112 in fines and late fees, according to charges made public today.

Dawn M. Nyberg of Blaine was charged with theft by swindle of public funds, forgery, and misconduct of a public officer. The first two charges are felonies, the last is a gross misdemeanor.

Nyberg, 32, didn't return a call to her home. She left her position with the courts on June 25. Her full-time position paid $20.09 an hour.

The Traffic Control Unit of the Minneapolis Police Department brought the matter to Court Operations Supervisor Michael Vicklund on June 15. Officer Jeffrey Miller reported that his officers had issued citations to a 1997 Toyota more than 90 times but that the citations had not been properly processed, the complaint said.

He also delivered 73 citations which he believed to be at issue. Vicklund then conducted an investigation and reported to the county attorney's office.

Traffic citations are entered electronically at the end of each day into a system known as VIBE, which then tracks dispositions of the citations.

Normal entries into VIBE can be overridden manually by employees within the violations bureau, but the only people with the authority to expunge citations were Court Operations Supervisor Mike Cardinal and Nyberg.

By overriding the entry of the citation it was possible for Nyberg to delete or expunge an entry. By entering an incorrect vehicle, she could avoid responsibility entirely.

Cardinal and Court Operations Manager Susan Love provided spreadsheets from the VIBE system reviewing Nyberg's citations from Aug. 22, 2005 to June 14, 2007. The spreadsheets disclosed numerous times in which vehicle information was incorrect and numerous instances when the matters were expunged.

In most instances, Nyberg used her personal login to change the information, but in some instances, she used other employees' names.

She paid no fines on any citations except the final two which were paid at the time of her resignation.

She is not in custody and is scheduled to appear in Nov. 29.

Courts Administrator Mark Thompson didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

Rochelle Olson • raolson@startribune.com

© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

More years ago than I care to admit, I worked for a municipal court. It was common practice there to just talk to judges and have them dismiss your parking tickets. I got a parking ticket and just couldn't bring myself to do that. I went down to the dungeon and paid my $25.

Getting a judge to dismiss a ticket is very different from doing it yourself. The former is legal.

At 73 violations, she wasn't just fixing her accidental violations; she clearly had decided to park wherever she wanted, knowing that she could fix any ticket that she got.

Clerk at traffic violations bureau pleads guilty to fixing tickets

By RANDY FURST, Star Tribune

Last update: February 21, 2008 - 8:05 AM

A 32-year-old clerk at Hennepin County's traffic violations bureau pleaded guilty Wednesday to fixing more than $5,000 worth of her own parking tickets.

Dawn M. Nyberg of Blaine told a judge in Hennepin County Court that she used her access to the traffic computers to delete some of her tickets, voided some by changing the license plate listed, and sometimes listed the parking meter as defective.

Her attorney, William Bulmer II, said that she accumulated the tickets while parking at meters near the county government center where she worked.

Under a plea agreement, Nyberg will serve 30 days in the Hennepin County workhouse, on alternate weekends, then be electronically monitored for up to 180 days. Two additional charges were dropped.

Nyberg will have to pay for the electronic monitoring. She also agreed to pay the fines.

Wright County Judge Jonathan Jasper was brought in to hear the case to avoid a conflict of interest because Nyberg is a Hennepin County employee. Jasper must approve the agreement. He ordered a pre-sentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for April 4 at 10 a.m.

"I think the sentence is fair," said assistant Hennepin County attorney Thomas Fabel. "She had no prior record."

Nyberg admitted to fixing 75 parking tickets between August 2005 and June 2007 although she said she was not sure of the number,

The parking fines came to $2,500, the late fees were $2,612, and the interest came to $324 for a total of $5,436, Fabel said.

Bulmer said that his client is a single mother with a 5-year-old child. He believed the crime was a "financial thing" and she regrets her actions.

"Personally, I think it is something that got out of hand. It wasn't something she planned from the start to see if she could get away with it," he said.

Randy Furst • 612-673-7382