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Houston swamped with warrants for petty offenses

I was interested for a number of reasons to see a story in today's Houston Chronicle by Renee Lee titled "Wanted: Residents with 1.7 million warrants," which opens thusly:Nearly 2 million warrants worth more than $340 million are outstanding in the Houston area, and in most cases they're not for hard-core criminals. They're for average residents who haven't settled minor traffic and ordinance citations. The class C misdemeanor offenses, punishable by fines only, can be resolved by showing up at a municipal or justice of the peace court to answer the charge. But when people fail to comply with the law, judges are forced to issue warrants for their arrest. The figures, based on information provided to the Houston Chronicle from a select number of courts in Houston and five surrounding counties, document only a snapshot of the widespread problem, which overwhelms some courts and law enforcement agencies...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on August 10, 2009 (boomark / email).