FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - Those with outstanding warrants out of Fort Worth will have an excellent opportunity to get them taken care of next month.
For the third February in a row, Fort Worth is holding Warrant Forgiveness Month.
Only Class C misdemeanors, which are the least serious crimes, are eligible.
“Class C is typically going to be a traffic ticket,” says Fort Worth Municipal Court Chief Judge Danny Rodgers. “It can also be a code violation, but more typically it's a traffic ticket.”
People who can’t afford to pay their tickets can work out a deal with the court to satisfy their tickets in another way.
“There are folks that feel trapped,” says Judge Rodgers. “They’re folks that their income probably is on the lower end of things. They get these tickets, they don't know how to handle them. They're afraid that they're going to go to jail. They're afraid of what might happen to them. So they follow a path that too many people follow, which is just to ignore it or try to stay away.”
A very common way for low-income folks to satisfy those tickets is community service.
“State law requires that they get at least credit for $100 for an eight-hour day,” says Judge Rodgers, “and we have discretion to go above that.”
This year, there will be something new.
“On our two Saturday events (see below), we’re going to have the opportunity for individuals to do community service the same day that they come in,” says Fort Worth City Marshal Philip Swift.
The first two times the City of Fort Worth has had Warrant Forgiveness Month have been very successful.
“Over the last two years that we did this event, the first two years we saw approximately 10,000 people and almost 40,000 cases where people came and saw us,” Judge Rodgers says.
On ten occasions next month, the court will set up shop off-site to make it convenient for folks to come in and work out a deal to take care of their tickets (all events run 9:00 a.m. to noon).
Wed., 2/5: Sweet Home Baptist Church, 5225 Ramey Ave.
Thurs., 2/6: Victory Forest Community Center, 3427 Hemphill St.
Wed., 2/12: Diamond Hill Community Center, 1701 NE 36th St.
Thurs., 2/13: East Regional Library, 6301 E. Bridge St.
Sat., 2/15: A.D. Marshall Public Safety And Courts Building, 1000 Throckmorton St.
Wed., 2/19: Chisholm Trail Community Center, 3396 McPherson Blvd.
Thurs., 2/20: Atwoods Ranch and Home, 6001 Lake Worth Blvd.
Sat., 2/22: True Worth Place, 1513 E. Presidio St.
Wed., 2/26: Boys and Girls Club, 3123 Ave. G.
Thurs., 2/27: Como Community Center, 4900 Horne St.