Under the plan, the courts, which administer the bail program for defendants, will send out several dunning notices to debtors, post their names on the Web - and eventually turn their cases over to private debt-collection firms if people don't pony up.
The campaign has a phone number - 215-683-1482 - that debtors may call to work out a payment plan. All money collected is to go to the general city treasury, which funds most of the courts' operation.
Earlier in the day, Nutter joined other political leaders in heralding steps to tackle another entrenched problem in the Philadelphia criminal justice system - rampant witness intimidation.
As had been announced, Nutter reiterated that the city, despite its fiscal woes, had found $200,000 in extra funding for the witness-relocation program of the District Attorney's Office. That would boost the program's current budget nearly 30 percent, to $895,000.
Nutter also disclosed that the city planned a series of neighborhood "summit meetings" over the summer to deal with issue of uncooperative or fearful witnesses - especially how to stamp out the "stop snitching" culture that discourages neighbors from giving information to police and prosecutors.
At the same morning news conference, State Sen. Anthony H. Williams and State Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, both Philadelphia Democrats, said the entire city delegation would push hard to increase overall state funding for witness protection. About three-quarters of funding typically has gone to Philadelphia.
Williams said the goal was to boost annual statewide funding to $1 million, from $885,000. Even if this goal were met, state funding would still be under its recent peak, $1.3 million in 2007.
The issues of the uncollected $1 billion bail and of rampant witness fear were both raised as part of Inquirer coverage of the Philadelphia criminal justice system.
Until the newspaper asked for an accounting, court officals had no idea how much money was owed by fugitives.
