City of Bixby Announces Municipal Warrant Amnesty Program
The City of Bixby announced that it will implement a Municipal Warrant Amnesty Program to allow defendants with delinquent obligations pending in Bixby’s Municipal Court an opportunity to clear their cases without being arrested or paying additional late fees and court costs. These delinquent obligations include: (1) unpaid citations which had a preset fine, (2) citations upon which the defendant failed to appear when it was “booked to court”, and (3) charges upon which the defendant has been found guilty, granted time to pay fines and costs, but are now past due.
On Jan. 3, 2012, the City of Bixby finalized its contract with a debt collection agency to collect past due and outstanding fines and costs. For those collections, the agency will receive a fee equal to 35% of the fines and costs collected and the defendants will be obligated to pay that amount in addition to their fines and costs. If defendants avail themselves of the City’s Amnesty Program, they may not only avoid arrest, late fees and court costs, they may also avoid the collection agency’s 35% fee.
The City’s Amnesty Program will run from Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 through Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. During this time, any person with an outstanding Bixby municipal warrant may voluntarily appear before the Bixby Municipal Court Clerk during regular business hours without being subject to arrest and immediate imprisonment on warrants issued by the Bixby Municipal Court, so that they may surrender themselves on any outstanding charges and/or make arrangements to pay outstanding obligations to the City. Payment of outstanding preset fines may be made at the cashier’s window at City Hall in the Bixby Municipal Building, 116 West Needles Avenue, Bixby Oklahoma 74008. Payments can be made by cash, money order, cashier check, or by credit/debit card (Mastercard or Visa) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No personal checks shall be accepted on outstanding municipal warrants.
For municipal charges which were “Booked to Court” without a preset fine, individuals may come to the Municipal Court Clerk’s Office at City Hall in the Bixby Municipal Building, 116 West Needles Avenue and request that they be added onto a Special Warrant Docket scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012, at 6 p.m.. Those adding onto the Special Warrant Docket will be required to appear before the Court for adjudication and/or further proceedings necessary to close out their charges. Once defendants are scheduled on the Special Warrant Docket, any outstanding warrant on their charges will be recalled and the defendant will not be subject to immediate arrest.
During the City’s Amnesty Program, individuals with outstanding failure to pay warrants may come to the Municipal Court Clerk’s Office at City Hall in the Bixby Municipal Building, 116 West Needles Avenue and request that any such Time Pay Orders be added onto the Special Warrant Docket, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012, at 6 p.m. Persons will be allowed to add onto the Special Warrant Docket if he or she can pay at least 25% of the amount due and agree to pay the balance within ninety (90) days of appearing before the Court. Once defendants are scheduled on the Special Warrant Docket, any outstanding warrant on these charges will be recalled and the defendant will not be subject to immediate arrest.
Following the conclusion of the City’s Amnesty Program, the efforts the City makes on outstanding obligations before its Municipal Court will be two-fold. First, defendants will be subject to immediate arrest and incarceration on outstanding warrants. Second, the City’s collection agency will be released to collect any outstanding fines and costs and the collection agency’s 35% fee will be added to that amount.
Defendants with outstanding obligations before Bixby’s Municipal Court are strongly urged to avail themselves of this Amnesty Program. By doing so, they may:
(1) Avoid being arrested and jailed;
(2) Save money in the form of avoiding late fees, court costs, collection costs and lost wages; and
(3) Avoid an unfavorable credit report.
The Bixby Police Department will serve any warrants that are outstanding at the conclusion of this amnesty program.
· Number of Outstanding Charges/Warrants: 1,969
· Value of Outstanding Obligations Due on Warrants: $641,316.23
City of Bixby Contact for Questions:
Patrick Boulden
Bixby City Attorney
116 West Needles Avenue
Bixby, Oklahoma, Telephone: 918-366-4430
Updated 01-27-2012
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