By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — A line formed by 7:30 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m. Feb. 26, there was standing room only for Amnesty Day at Trussville Municipal Court.
Amnesty Day, offered by the Trussville Municipal Court and Trussville Police Department, was granted by Judge Carl Chamblee for people to clear outstanding warrants on failure to appear, failure to comply and bail jumping for any of the following offenses: Not appearing in court on original charge; not completing a court-ordered program; or have outstanding fines, court costs and/or restitution or warrants for writing a bad check.
Magistrate Melanie Colston said by 11 a.m., the court had taken in about ,000.
In total, more than 50 warrants were recalled, about ,000 was taken in and about 65 cases were closed. The rest of the people with open cases were put on a payment plan.
As part of the Amnesty Day, defendants were to pay all outstanding fines, court costs and/or restitution. If a court-ordered program was not completed, the court will re-enroll the defendant in the program.
Last year’s amnesty day cleared more than 25 outstanding warrants and closed more than 65 cases. The one-day event collected more than ,000 in fines and costs.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.