People with Outstanding Warrants Surrender

Anyone with an outstanding warrant had an opportunity to safely surrender on Saturday.

The Ohio Poverty Law Center and the Mid-Ohio Reentry Coalition co-sponsored an Outstanding Warrant Day.  Equal Justice Works Fellow Melissa Lindsay said Muskingum County Court has almost 600 warrants, and this initiative could help reduce that number.

"It’s the hope that we can have as few arrests as possible," said Lindsay.  "Hopefully we can get some of these issues dealt with and let folks move on and courts close the books on some of these cases."

Lindsay said people with outstanding warrants aren’t the only ones benefiting from this event.

"For law enforcement, it’s a dangerous part of their job to go out and serve even low-level warrants," said Lindsay.  "Also, having these open cases with no possible resolution, because the individual is not showing up, costs taxpayer time and money when our courts are involved."

Lindsay said Outstanding Warrant Day should serve as a model for other communities across the state.