ORANGE COUNTY, Texas — If you're wanted on a misdemeanor warrant in Orange County you may have a chance to take care of it without paying a bond or having an ignition lock placed on your car.
Because of a large number of misdemeanor cases in the county, including more than 300 DWI cases, the county is implementing a "warrant amnesty program" for the month of May 2023 according to a Facebook post by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Nearly half of the DWI cases are "inactive" because the defendant has not been arrested yet according to the release.
Southeast Texas Attorney Ryan Gertz says a pending DWI still has to be taken care of.
"A lot of people who were released or cited for DWIs, but were not actually technically arrested, but that means they still have a pending DWI," he said.
Anyone with an outstanding misdemeanor warrant from Judge Troy Johnson in Orange County's Court at Law No. 2 must show up in-person during the month of May to take advantage of the offer.
Doing so will save defendants hundreds of dollars because they will be released on a "personal recognizance bond."
This will allow them to avoid paying for a bail bond or an interlock device for their car which the release describes as expensive.
Only some offenders will qualify for this program.
You will not be eligible for amnesty if...
- You get arrested for the warrant before you turn yourself in.
- You turn yourself in at another jail.
- The charge is classified as a FELONY.
- The warrant is from another county.
- You have FELONY warrants.
- You have outstanding warrants existing from other counties.
- You will probably be arrested if there are felony warrants or warrants in other counties.
- You have a warrant for a Motion to Revoke or Motion to Impose Guilt after having been placed on probation for an offense.
"If you were arrested between March of 2020 and I would say sometime the summer of 2022 and were not released on a bond, you were just released, this program will apply to you," Gertz said.
These backlogged cases are from about 120 offenders who got DWIs between March 2020 and the summer of 2022, during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
If you aren't ready to turn yourself in, Orange County Constable Colton Havard says you could face further consequences.
"If they don't appear, they'll be picked up by law enforcement at some point in time. If they're picked up here in Orange County, they're going to have to bail out," Havard said. "If they're picked up in another county, they're going to have to wait to be extradited back to Orange County."
Gertz suggests the best thing to do is turn yourself in and find a lawyer.
Those who come in-person to turn themselves in between May 1 and May 30, 2023, will go through a short booking process and then get a quick release from the jail according to the release.
They will then have their case heard before Judge Johnson on June 8, 2023 at 2 p.m.
Only warrants issued in Orange County Court at Law No. 2 to defendants who show up in person at the Orange County jail are eligible.
You can call the Orange County Court at Law No.2 if you have questions at (409) 670-4189.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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