Courts around North Texas are working this month to help people resolve low-level cases.
The resolution efforts are geared toward people with Class C misdemeanors, which are minor infractions such as traffic violations.
“The campaign aims to avoid arrest and to encourage defendants to resolve their outstanding cases,” said Shelbi Stofer, a spokesperson for the city of Fate.
Approximately 20 to 100 cases are cleared out of the city’s court during the annual warrant roundup process, Stofer said. That means revenue for the city as people pay their fines.
Cities participating in the campaign say people can come forward without risk of arrest. But David Reyna, a former assistant district attorney for Dallas County, said fears of deportation due to the Trump administration's focus on immigration enforcement may prevent people from wanting to come forward to pay their tickets.
Still, he said, the best thing to do is to take care of those cases voluntarily — or risk getting stopped and arrested for outstanding warrants.
“Unfortunately, if you do get arrested, even for a Class C offense, or maybe there's multiple tickets and you go in to jail, they could put an immigration hold on you,” Reyna said. “You could just be taken to jail and be deported even for an outstanding traffic violation, which doesn't seem fair at all, but I mean ... that's what's happening."
Shelbi Stofer, with the city of Fate, said she’s not concerned deportation fears will prevent people from showing up to pay their fines. She said that about 20-100 cases are resolved during the citation resolution campaign.
“So when folks know that you know, a possible arrest is imminent, they typically will take a little bit more proactive care in resolving their outstanding matters,” she said.
Citation resolution programs vary from city to city.
The Dallas Municipal Court is holding citation resolution events at different locations now through March 13. People can have their warrant fees waived in exchange for a donation of an unopened blanket or package of socks.
Other North Texas cities participating in citation resolution programs this month include Arlington and Garland.
