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INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9485
April 3, 2012
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Page 1 of 2
SUBJECT: 2012 STATE WIDE ROUND-UP AND CITY OF FORT WORTH
WARRANT AMNESTY PROGRAM
The purpose of this Informal Report is to provide the City Council follow-up information on the
Municipal Court Services Departmentparticipation in the 2012 Statewide Round-Up and the
Warrant Amnesty Program.
The Department worked closely with the City Managers Office of Media and Public Affairs staff to
utilize multiple media venues for advertisement including: videos, flyers, city cable, city website,
twitter, television and radio. The Department also coordinated a mailing campaign with its current
external collection vendor of over 20,000 letters related to approximately 60,000 cases.
Customer service hours were extended at the downtown location to provide increased opportunity
for citizens to resolve their outstanding case(s).
The following is a brief summary of each of these programs.
2012 Statewide Round-Up
On February 13, 2012 the City of Fort Worth Municipal Court served as the host for the North
Texas kick-off news conference that included representation from over 30 local and state
agencies, at the Southwest Municipal Court, to announce the 2012 Statewide Roundup held
February 13, 2012 to March 4, 2012.
During this time period the Department was able to clear over 9,100 warrants with a
corresponding total fine or bond amount of $3.3 million; compared to $2.8 million in 2011. Actual
payments collected were over $460,000.00 in fines and court costs; compared to approximately
$239,000.00 in 2011. We also held a special Saturday round-up on March 3, 2012 that resulted
in the clearance of approximately 500 warrants.
Warrant Amnesty Program
To complement other measures to reduce the number of undisposed cases with warrants and
increase court collections, the Department implemented a limited warrant amnesty program. The
program period was February 27, 2012 to Friday, March 23, 2012 under the following conditions:
Defendant was required to appear voluntarily;
Ticket had to be in warrant status;
Defendant had to plead guilty or no-contest; and
Defendant was required to pay the remaining balance in full
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 9485
April 3, 2012
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
Page 2 of 2
SUBJECT: 2012 STATE WIDE ROUND-UP AND CITY OF FORT WORTH
WARRANT AMNESTY PROGRAM
During the amnesty period the Department cleared over 14,000 warrants and collected over
$620,000.00 in fines and court costs on cases in warrant. Approximately $68,000 in warrant fees
were waived as a result of citizens voluntarily resolving their case(s) in compliance with the
amnesty program. The Court answered over 15,000 phone calls, assisted over 40,000 citizens
in-person, processed over 2,700 time payment plan applications, and resulted over 22,000 cases
in the walk-in courtrooms.
The Courts established goal of $500,000.00 in collections on warrant cases for the amnesty
period was exceeded.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Deidra Eme
Director, at (817) 392-6711.
Tom Higgins
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS