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Murphy municipal court launches amnesty week; judge waives $50 warrant fee to encourage resolution
Summary
Murphy Municipal Court implemented an amnesty week ending March 8 intended to clear outstanding warrants; the court eliminated the routine $50 warrant fee for participants and offered alternatives including payment plans and hardship hearings.
Murphy Municipal Court staff told the City Council on March 4 that the court has opened an amnesty period allowing defendants with active municipal warrants to resolve cases without arrest and with the $50 warrant fee waived.
Court Administrator Patty (last name not specified in the transcript) and Judge Calloway described two common warrant types: capias warrants (issued after a defendant made an initial appearance and later failed to comply with an arrangement) and alias warrants (issued when a defendant never appeared). During amnesty week, which began after a postcard mailing from the city’s collection agency, the court is accepting payments, offering payment plans, and allowing defendants to request a court date instead of being arrested. The judge has also ordered removal of the $50 warrant fee for the amnesty period; the amnesty program ends March 8 and hearings for unresolved cases will begin March 8.
Staff said the collection agency mailed postcards to people the agency could locate using its consumer-data tools. The court reported an increase in online payments since the mailings. Court staff noted two common barriers to resolution: inaccurate contact information and fear or misunderstanding of the court process among some recipients. The court said that in a recent small test mailing, roughly half of recipients contacted the court; that experience helped justify expanding the outreach.
Court staff said they aim to avoid arrest where possible. Options available to defendants include full payment of fines and costs, a 30-day extension, payment plans, requests for community service, financial hardship hearings, and indigency determinations; only a judge can authorize community service or declare indigence.
Judge Calloway also described broader court initiatives: an education and interpreter expansion, efforts to improve telephone outreach by the bailiff, and a youth-diversion program enacted by the state legislature that creates a separate, noncriminal track for qualifying juvenile offenders. The judge said the new juvenile diversion module and program are ready but had not yet been used in Murphy as of the meeting.
Ending: Council members thanked municipal court staff for the update. No further council action was taken at the meeting.
