The amnesty period does not dismiss any charges, but it provides an opportunity for anyone with outstanding warrants in Trigg County courts to turn themselves in at the police department, and be released with a court date without having to go to jail or post a bond. The person can then work with the judge, prosecutor and their attorney to get the matter resolved quickly.
People with active warrants are asked to come to the Cadiz Police Department between 6 am and 6 pm April 23-25 to be served their court paper.
As of April 15, there were 581 active warrants and summonses in the state E-warrant system out of Trigg County. Nearly 75 percent of these warrants are for people who failed to show up for court or failed to pay their court fine.
“We are hoping that people will take advantage of this opportunity to show up and get these outstanding warrants taken care of,” said Cadiz Police Chief Chad Grace.
Nearly 40 percent of active warrants are for people who failed to pay court fines totaling over $81,000. Some date back to the 1990s, in amounts from $30 to $1,661.
“A lot of people we arrest on outstanding warrants tell us they knew they had a warrant but didn’t want to lose their job or go to jail so they just didn’t show up for court,” said Sgt. Scott Brown, one of the officers overseeing the program. “Others have told us they were never contacted by the court because they moved, and didn’t provide a forwarding address.”
In addition, there are 22 outstanding warrants for failure to pay child support of an average $8,198 per child, totaling $180,376.
“We have been working with the county attorney to get these parents into court and take care of their responsibility. We are hoping these parents use this tool they are being given and reach out to take care of their obligation,” Sgt. Brown said.
Chief Grace said there are some parameters and guidelines that will be followed. They include:
• The court papers are for offenses that occurred in Trigg County only.
• If a person has outstanding warrants in other counties in addition to Trigg County, the Cadiz Police are obligated to arrest them on those warrants. They will still be given a court date for the Trigg County charges.
• Not all warrants and summonses have identifiers such as dates of birth on them. You can contact the Cadiz Police Department and ask them to verify identifiers on the warrant to see if they match.
• All persons need to bring their most current picture ID to the police department before paper service.
• It is unnecessary for multiple family members to accompany the person to the police department while being served.
• When the amnesty period ends at 6pm on April 25, 2014, all warrants again become active and those persons are subject to arrest.
• If another police agency makes contact with that person during the amnesty period, they are subject to arrest.
A list of people with active warrants and summonses will appear on the Cadiz Police Department web page, www.cadizpolice.com on Apr. 21. A list will also appear in The Cadiz Record newspaper on April 23.
On the Net:
Cadiz Police website
