Three Snohomish County municipal courts will start a new program on Monday that could keep the weight of the law from hanging over the heads of many people.
The program is designed to help those who have missed a court date and for whom a judge has issued a warrant for their arrest because they didn’t show up.
| Check your eligibility
For more information, or to see if you’re eligible for the warrant recall program, call or visit: Everett Municipal Court, 3028 Wetmore Ave., 425- 257-8778. Edmonds Municipal Court, 250 Fifth Ave. N., 425-771-0210. Marysville Municipal Court, in City Hall, 1049 State Ave., Suite 205, 360-363-8050. Marysville also provides court services to the cities of Arlington and Lake Stevens. |
Marysville, Everett and Edmonds municipal courts have teamed up to make it easier to clear up such warrants. The municipal courts handle traffic and misdemeanor criminal matters.
In most cases, the defendant can have the warrant recalled and get a new court date. And they can do it at whichever court is the closest.
Such people would no longer have to worry about being pulled over for speeding and having the officer check their record, in which case the officer would find that they have an arrest warrant pending and haul them off to jail.
There are thousands of outstanding bench warrants on the books in the three courts – about 3,500 in Everett and 1,100 in Marysville alone, court administrators said.
Not all of those warrants are eligible for the program, particularly if the defendant failed to make court dates more than once, said Nancy Roden, Marysville court administrator.
Here’s what people can do to see if they qualify:
* Drop by any one of the three courts from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
* Make a one-time payment of $50 in cash and sign a promise to appear at a future hearing.
* The court will assign a new date, and defendants can start over with why they were brought to court in the first place.
“This is an opportunity for people to clear up some warrants,” said Jeri Cusimano, Everett Municipal Court administrator. “We’re hoping the door will swing open and people will take care of these.
“It’s not a game they get to play. Another warrant will be issued” if the person doesn’t show up for the new court hearing, Cusimano said.
“We’re looking at this as a customer service, access to justice and (saving the agency) the cost of booking a defendant into jail,” Roden said.
Roden said she hopes the program will reduce the number of outstanding warrants and reduce jail costs, as well as saving on administrative time.
Besides, “clearing your bench warrant will remove that dark cloud over your head that you could have been taken into custody at any time,” added Joan Ferebee, the Edmonds court administrator.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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