Warrant Resolution
By Albert B. Kelly
Next Monday, June 24th from 9:00am to 11:00 am Volunteers
of America, in conjunction with the New Jersey Courts, will be holding a
warrant resolution event at the Marino Center located at 11 Washington Street
in Bridgeton. This event is an opportunity for residents to come in and deal
with outstanding bench warrant issues originating specifically in a municipal
court in Cumberland, Salem, or Gloucester Counties- what is known as Vicinage
XV.
As I think about it, resolving bench warrants is an
important thing since an outstanding warrant has the very real potential to sneak
up on a person when they least expect it and potentially throw their lives into
some degree of chaos. For the record, warrants can be issued for a host of
municipal matters and perhaps even nonviolent criminal matters. It could be
anything from an unpaid parking or traffic ticket to a housing code violation, probation
violation, a failure to appear, student truancy, or child support payments.
Unresolved warrants can be incredibly disruptive. I can
easily picture a scenario where someone is driving home from work or the store
when they get pulled over for a break light being out and instead of a ticket
or a warning to get it fixed; they get taken into custody because of an
outstanding warrant that the person may have initially ignored and then
forgotten about. Depending on the person, their circumstances, and the
infraction involved, it could result in lost wages, child custody issues, or job
loss; things way out of proportion to the original offense.
If you’ve never had an issue in the courts, that’s a good
thing and to your credit. But for those who’ve gotten tangled up, I’m not going
to be so quick to judge because I also know that depending on who you are, how
you look, what you drive, and where you live it’s easy to get over-enforced on
and tangled up in the system. I’m also not so quick to pass judgement because
there are multiple reasons why warrants get issued and just as many reasons why
someone might have fallen behind on payments or failed to respond to a court
date. It’s easy to do when you live on the margins.
That said, the event is for those who’ve gotten behind,
acted carelessly, made a mistake, or forgot a date and then figured too much
time had passed for them to get any sort of consideration. Yet at the June 24th
event, if someone has municipal bench warrants that are eligible for recall,
staff will assist with getting the warrant recalled and setting people up with
new court dates. This applies to matters
in any municipal court in Cumberland, Gloucester or Salem Counties. For anything outside of these counties (i.e.
outside Vicinage XV), people will be provided with information about where
their court matters originate from and who to call directly.
If any of this applies to you, then the warrant resolution
event is something you want to take advantage of while you can- a show of good
faith that the court can take that into consideration- it’s better than the
alternative, perhaps on the side of the road on your way home from work or the
store one solitary evening. If the reason for the warrant is nonpayment of a
fine or missing a monthly payment to the court (assuming you’re on a payment
plan), then it may be as simple as a new court date and then paying the fine or
requesting a different payment amount.
The other thing that’s important about this event is the
fact that there will be various support services present to assist anyone who
comes in. In addition to court information, there will be paralegal help,
employment assistance, and a host of referrals for addiction treatment, mental
health, housing, social services, and support for veterans. This matters because
it’s on the margins where these services are often lacking and where the
“go-to” solution for communities is law enforcement and the courts and ultimately,
because of the way life is on the margins, you get bench warrants. Maybe this
can help.
So if you have an outstanding warrant, I encourage you to
attend. If you’re not sure if you have a municipal warrant but suspect you
might, then consider visiting the NJ Court’s “Municipal Court Case Search” at https://portal.njcourts.gov/webe5/MPAWeb/index.jsp
prior to the Warrant Resolution event on June 24th Either way, it’s
time to take care of business.