Thirty arrested in Burleson in Great Texas Warrant Roundup

by PegNews wire

As of February, the City of Burleson’s Municipal Court was almost $8,000 shy of reaching $1 million in outstanding warrants. What a difference one month made.

Saturday, the city marshals, City of Burleson Municipal Court judge and staff, and the Burleson Police Department joined forces for the Great Texas Warrant Roundup of 2009. In seven hours, 30 people were arrested at home and at work on outstanding municipal court warrants that totaled $15,704. Even more people walked in the police department Saturday morning to pay their warrants in lieu of being arrested. The walk-in warrants totaled $1,521.

The City marshals as well as six police officers made the arrests March 7. Members of the Citizens On Patrol called those with warrants prior to the roundup, and were on hand Saturday to help with paperwork. In February, the COPs members called 83 people with outstanding warrants. The phone calls resulted in the collection of more than $6,300 from 23 defendants.

The municipal court had 3,366 outstanding warrants totaling $992,425 when the roundup began in February. In order to clear those warrants, the municipal court was not only open for its regular hours (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday), but the hours were extended to include 8 a.m.-1 p.m. every Saturday in February.

Between Feb. 16 and March 7, a total of 407 warrants adding up to almost $53,000 were cleared. The focus is always on Class C misdemeanor warrants, the majority of which are traffic-related offenses, during the Great Texas Warrant Roundup. Those who have warrants for their arrest are notified through the mail.

There are three ways to avoid being arrested:

• Appear in person at Burleson Municipal Court (inside the Burleson sub-courthouse), 247 Elk Dr., Room 114.
• Pay online by logging on to the City web site, www.burlesontx.com, and clicking on the “Online Payments” box. You can not make partial payments, pay a fine for a person in jail, pay cash bonds, or pay dismissal fees online. Payments received by 4 p.m. are posted on the next business day. MasterCard and Visa are accepted.
• Pay by money order or cashier’s check. Mail the payment to Burleson Municipal Court, 247 Elk Dr., Room 114, Burleson, TX 76028. If the payment is mailed, warrant(s) will remain active until the payment is received and posted.

For more information about outstanding warrants, call the Burleson Municipal Court at 817-447-5363 or 817-447-5360. For more information about this release, call the public information office at 817-447-5400, ext. 286.

Source: Burleson