OKC's New Amnesty Program Off To Slow Start

News 9 has learned the Oklahoma City’s new amnesty program, to get rid of its backlog of warrants, is off to a slow start. Of the more 100,000 low level warrants eligible, only 68 were cleared in the first two weeks of the program which started July

Monday, July 29th 2019, 5:56 pm

By: Karl Torp

OKC's New Amnesty Program Off To Slow Start

News 9 has learned the Oklahoma City’s new amnesty program, to get rid of its backlog of warrants, is off to a slow start.

Of the more 100,000 low-level warrants eligible, only 68 were cleared in the first two weeks of the program which started July 1.

The municipal court says too many people fear going to jail, so they don't show up or call. The new program allows people to pay a reduced rate of their fines. Often times, that’s less than 50% of what is owed, and the warrant will be cleared.

“If you come to the Oklahoma City courthouse and you have a warrant, you will not go to jail for something we can take care of here,” said Manny Hernandez, Community Relations Coordinator.

If you can pay the reduced penalty, a judge will work out a payment plan.

Right now, The program is on pace to clear only about 1,100 of the more than 100,000 criminal and traffic-citation warrants that are eligible.

The warrants eligible are all from before July of 2017.

The amnesty program ends on March 31, 2020.

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