Waco police clean up warrants

Waco statisticss 19,470 – Number of outstanding warrants in Waco 12,000 – Number of suspects the municipal court expects to notfy $13,016,599.44 – Total money owed the city of Waco $30,022,612 – City of Waco Police Budget 2011-2012 16 percent – Percentage of city of Waco population with outstanding warrants $156 – City of Waco fine for violating promise to appear Source: cityofwaco.com

By Rob Bradfield
Staff Writer

Law enforcement agencies across the state will be cracking down on outstanding warrants in February.

The Great Texas Warrant Roundup is a joint operation by nearly 250 agencies to arrest and collect payment on outstanding warrants.

Participating agencies will be sharing information and actively pursuing residents with warrants in any of the included districts.

Participating cities include Waco, Hewitt, Austin, San Marcos, Houston, Fort Worth and the Dallas area.

Suzy Seitzler, city of Waco municipal court administrator, said Waco police will be actively arresting “anybody that has an outstanding warrant in an agency that is participating.”

According to city records online, the courts and police will be serving close to 20,000 warrants over the next few months just in the Waco area.

Residents with outstanding warrants from any of the participating areas will receive a notice informing them of their status and instructing them to appear at the municipal court.

Those that come to the municipal court will not be arrested and will be allowed to settle their fines.

“[People with an outstanding warrant] are certainly encouraged to make contact with the city of Waco and the municipal court and get it taken care of,” Baylor Police Chief Jim Doak said.

Doak said the Baylor Police will be cooperating with the Waco Police Department to round up violators during the crackdown.

Since Baylor PD doesn’t operate through the city of Waco, they don’t have a dedicated warrant pool, but they will have access to the statewide lists.

Doak and other area officials encourage those with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in, and not wait for the police to come find them.

“It’s a lot less expensive, and you don’t have to go to jail,” Doak said.

Those that want to check on the status of warrants issued in Waco or pay outstanding fines owed to the city can contact the City of Waco Municipal Court by phone at (254) 750-5900, or in person at their location at 201 W. Waco Drive.

They can also go to the court’s website to check on local warrants and fines.

Those with warrants outside the area should contact the court from which the citation was issued.