Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said April 26 that his office is partnering with the LightsOn! microgrant program to give vouchers for headlight and taillight repair in lieu of writing citations.

Sherman Patterson, the program director of LightsOn! said that the program started in 2017 to improve relations with law enforcement and increase safety by reducing broken taillights and headlights.

When a deputy stops someone for a broken headlight or taillight, so long as they don’t have other infractions, felony warrants, or are otherwise a public safety hazard, the deputy can give them a voucher for $250 toward the needed repairs instead of writing the driver a ticket.

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Patterson said that with socioeconomic issues, in some cases, a ticket for a broken taillight can spiral into a number of costs they can’t afford, and compound within the criminal justice system.

He said CCSO is the first Montana agency to partner with LightsOn!

Slaughter said that the program is funded with $1,400 from the CCSO’s drug forfeiture funds and matched by LightsOn! for the vouchers.

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If the funds are used up quickly, Slaughter said they could consider adding more funds to the program and if they don’t use the funds up, they can roll into next year’s budget.

Slaughter said the program is intended for well behaved citizens who just happen to have a broken taillight or headlight and not someone who has lots of other violations or are driving under the influence or otherwise causing public safety problems.

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He said that deputies have discretion in when to issue the vouchers, as they do when they’d write a citation versus issuing a warning.

Capt. Scott Van Dkyen said that over the last 12 months, deputies have issued 49 warnings for broken taillights and headlights.

The agencies are partnering with Bison Ford and City Motors for the program.