Be warned: Officers look for warrants

By Ashley Bradley/ne news editor

The state of Texas is conducting a warrant roundup this month.

Statewide, the roundup is required to last March 6-14, but each city can decide on a longer length of time.

Fort Worth Marshal Jesse Hernandez said his division plans to have a “concentrated push” March 13. Though the officers are normally off on Saturdays, they decided to make warrant arrests instead.

“We will be going to people’s houses, workplaces and picking them up off the sidewalks,” he said. “We’re making arrests for all class C warrants, which are from traffic violations or code violations.”

Hernandez said this is an annual occurrence, but this year it falls one day earlier because of the way the calendar falls.

“We decided to serve all these warrants to get people to come in and comply with the law,” he said.

South Campus student Sydney Brown said she has a warrant and can’t afford to pay it off. While traveling to Denton from Arlington, she was pulled over going 85 mph in a 65 mph zone. She said the ticket was around $350.

“I was making payments on it. Then I got a letter in the mail, saying I didn’t pay the last payment,” she said. “Now, I have to pay the whole amount again.”

Because Brown currently takes 10 credit hours, looks for a job full-time and practices art, she doesn’t have the time or the money to pay off her ticket. Brown said she can only hope she won’t be arrested.

“I don’t have $400, and I can’t set up a payment plan,” she said. “I have to pay it in full.”

SE student Jasmin Flores said she is worried because her brother has a warrant.

“They could come to my house or his work,” she said. “He just doesn’t have the money. People are trying to pull money from him left and right, and his car is messed up. It’s just too much for him to have to deal with.”

Arlington police media relations coordinator Tiara Ellis Richard said currently more than 88,000 warrants are outstanding in the city of Arlington. She said the key to never being put in jail for a warrant is to take care of it as soon as possible.

“Call the court and set something up,” she said. “Just never let it go into warrant status. Set up a payment plan to get it started. We just want people to take care of their tickets.”

Arlington’s roundup is March 6-14. For more information, contact the appropriate city municipal court.