Amnesty Period OKd for Payment of Outstanding Traffic Citations

Scofflaws who have failed to pay 50,000 traffic tickets issued in Ventura County in recent years will have a monthlong amnesty period beginning April 29 to pay original fines and have their outstanding arrest warrants dropped, authorities said Monday.

On the recommendation of the county grand jury, the district attorney, sheriff and court officials agreed to accept payment of initial penalties and drop the additional $242 warrant charges for failing to appear in court, Sheila Gonzalez, the court’s executive officer, said.

“We thought it appropriate to give them the opportunity to settle up before we go out with a heavy hand,” Gonzalez said. “If they choose to ignore this, they face the reality of being arrested.”

The April 29 to May 31 amnesty period will be followed by a monthlong crackdown on outstanding warrants for traffic, building code, animal, bicycle, skateboard and pedestrian infractions, said Sheriff’s Lt. Joseph Harwell, who runs the major crimes unit.

Harwell will head a 20-member task force of county and municipal law enforcement officers that will track down and arrest people who do not clear their records during the amnesty period. Previously, the outstanding arrest warrants have not been served because of insufficient staffing, Harwell said.

Gonzalez said the county will send notices to everyone with warrants issued during the past five years, the period for which Harwell said the warrants are still active. Basically, the amnesty program covers citations that are less serious than misdemeanors.

Those participating in the program will also be able to clear their records of failure-to-appear citations, which are misdemeanors.

County officials said they agreed with the grand jury that it was time to clear outstanding arrest warrants off the books. “What appealed to us was the the follow-up of the warrant sweep,” Gonzalez said.

Harwell said there are about 50,000 outstanding traffic warrants, nearly 27,000 of which were issued in the past year alone.

Gonzalez said the average fine for the outstanding violations is $70, meaning $3.5 million of fines have gone uncollected. She said her office would be satisfied to recoup $500,000 of that.