Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said there was plenty of room in the Wichita Falls jail to house the approximately 11,000 residents who currently have arrest warrants with their names on them, according to an article in today's Wichita Falls Times Record News newspaper.
The deadline is March 1, 2013 for Wichitans to pay parking and speeding tickets or face the nightmare of a law enforcement officer knocking on their front doors and placing them in handcuffs.
Municipal Court Administrator Stan Horton posted to Facebook a few minutes ago that people actually need to pay their fines by Friday, March 1. While the Great Roundup doesn't begin until Tuesday, March 5, local authorities may commence the arrests on Saturday, March 2, according to Horton's recent post to Facebook.
The Great Texas Warrant Roundup will kick off on that date for people in the Wichita Falls, Texas area who have torn up their tickets and tossed them in the trashcan.
That's right. These are not warrants for murderers, rapists or child abusers who are facing the embarassment of being hauled away in a police or sheriff's car in front of their neighbors.
This is a list which includes normally law-abiding citizens who drove 70 miles an hour in a 55 mile an hour speed zone or who parked 35 minutes in a 30-minute parking zone.
People in risk of suffering the indignity of Channel 3 or Channel 6 TV cameras filming them being led away to the county jail should know who they are by now.
Stan Horton, who is the court administrator for the City of Wichita Falls, said his office sent letters to people notifying them they are on the list Feb. 15.
Horton, formerly a deputy sheriff in Wichita Falls, said he was encouraged by the fact people throughout the North Texas community of 105,000 have been paying their tickets off at a pretty good clip since the letters went out.
Duke promised he would make space available in his jail for anyone failing to resolve their tickets by the announced deadline. He said he has never failed provide a temporary residence for people during previous roundups.
People may call 940-761-7880 at the municipal court in Wichita Falls to resolve their fines.
These speeders and illegal parkers may also stop by the office at 611 Bluff to pay their tickets.
The most convenient way might be to go to the court's web page on www.wichitafallstx.gov and pay online.
Some people do choose to serve jail time rather than pay their fines, according to Horton, although he would rather receive the fines.
Hypothetically, if someone wanted to do the time, they would receive credit for $100 for every day served.
Those who don't mind being arrested should prepare themselves from being hauled away in front of friends and neighbors on March 2.
Horton's recent Facebook post says people may be arrested at home, school, work or during a traffic stop.
So the lastest update is pay your fines by this Friday, March 1!
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