By Andy Sevilla
Buda and Kyle, which collectively are owed more than $5.2 million in outstanding citations, have joined more than 300 law enforcement agencies across the state in this year’s Great Texas Warrant Roundup.
The statewide effort is designed to target thousands of defendants with traffic, parking, city ordinance, penal code and higher charge warrants.
According to the most recent figures available, Buda is owed about $735,000 in outstanding warrants. Kyle is out $4.5 million.
Those figures are ever-changing as defendants take care of fines and judges in each jurisdiction issue more citations.
“Our goal is compliance with the orders of the court, not placing people in jail,” Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said of the warrant roundup, which began March 7. “We would prefer that everyone comply with their court ordered obligations prior to our officers arresting anyone.”
Buda Municipal Court Judge Beth Smith said Buda has a lot of outstanding warrants, though not out of line when compared to other cities of its size with limited resources.
“The Police Department doesn’t have a warrants officer yet, to my knowledge,” Smith said. “A court is required by law to do everything allowable to collect fines owed to the city.”
Smith said Buda’s municipal court uses a collection agency, and recently the state reopened resources for the courts to work in conjunction with the statewide database to aid in collection efforts after shuttering that program in 2007.
“The actual warrant round-up is initiated by the law enforcement agencies, but a lot of advanced warnings are issued,” she said. “Hopefully defendants will contact respective courts prior to that last step.”
Texas residents who fail to meet warrant obligations are subject to arrest at anytime of the day or night, on any day of the week, and at any location within the state, according to Barnett.
“We will be cooperating with agencies across the state of Texas in order to get these warrants served or addressed with the court,” he said.
Kyle has a little more than 12,000 outstanding warrants, according to the latest figures, while Buda has roughly 2,000.
Officials say the statewide warrant roundup is a mechanism for law enforcement agencies to work together in closing cases for which all other means of resolution have been unsuccessful.
“Statewide cooperation with other entities provides broader public awareness. Tax refund season creates better opportunity for some defendants to have the ability to pay their fines,” officials in Texas City, a participating member, said in a news release.
While amnesty periods for this year’s warrant roundup ended March 6, officials say defendants could still pay any outstanding citations or set up a payment plan with the court before any arrests take place.
According to San Marcos Deputy Marshall Tracy Balusek, “Warrants don’t go away unless you take steps to address them.”
Get ‘er done
If you live in Buda, Kyle or San Marcos and have an outstanding warrant, you may take care of it at one of these following locations:
Buda Municipal Court
121 Main Street
(512) 295-2562
Kyle Municipal Court
100 W. Center Street
(512) 262-3994
San Marcos Municipal Court
712 South Stagecoach Trail
(512) 393-8190
