Roger Estlack

If you’ve skipped paying that speeding ticket that you stuffed in your glove box, you could soon find yourself wearing a pair of handcuffs when the Texas Warrant Round-Up begins next Saturday, February 25.

Donley County Justices of the Peace and more than 200 other jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies across the state will be participating in the round-up, and officials say it’s best to pay your fine now before it starts.

“It’s better to come in voluntarily than to be embarrassed by getting arrested in front of your friends or family,” said Precinct 1&2 Justice Connie Havens.

Local justice courts handed numerous open cases over to a collection agency in Amarillo, which has sent letters out to those individuals. Havens says her office has “drawers and drawers” of cases – mostly traffic tickets – and that some of them have been open for five years or more.

“When you get a ticket, your signature is not an admission of guilt, but it is a promise to appear in court,” Havens said. “Any time you fail to appear or take care of that ticket, we can issue a warrant.”

The courts have already put a hold on the driver’s licenses of the offenders in question, and if they don’t pay up before February 25, warrants will be issued and the offenders will be arrested.

Precinct 3&4 Justice Denise Bertrand said Donley County has had good results from participating in the Texas Warrant Round-Up before.

“It was very successful last year,” Bertrand said. “I consider it a success when they pay their fine, and we don’t have to put out a warrant or put them in jail.”

As collection agents letters show up in mailboxes and word gets out about the round-up, local courts are already seeing an influx of people paying their fines. Bertrand had three people contact her office Monday to make payment arrangements, and Havens had four people pay their fines before 9 a.m. Tuesday morning and says more will be coming.

“I left the office at 5 o’clock Monday; and when I came in [Tuesday] had had 16 missed calls and two messages,” Havens said.

The treasury stands to benefit from the round-up, but Havens said for her it’s not about the money.

“I like it because it clears out a lot of cases,” she said. “You just get tired of dealing with them. Those that came in Tuesday were from 2004, 2008, 2005, and 2011. They are old cases.”

Havens said the round-up works because people move and local courts can’t track them down, but a collection agent can.

“We found out five cases where people are actually incarcerated on other charges,” she said.

If someone is unable to pay their fine, the justices still say it’s better to contact their offices before warrants go out next Saturday.

“Community service is an option if they can prove they can pay their fine,” Bertrand said.

The Donley County Senior Citizens Center has good news to report for seniors who enjoy eating and socializing with friends – menus are changing again but this time for the better.

Director Mary Shields says after struggling for the last few months with new Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) menus, the center will soon return to some of the delicious meals seniors like to eat.

“Thanks to a different nutritionist/dietician, the new menus will be much more palatable, so once again there will be King Ranch chicken, Salisbury steaks, and other old favorites being offered,” she said. “And best of all, real desserts will be available to satisfy the sweet-tooth while still meeting the Recommended Daily Requirements.”

Shields asks everyone to come see the welcome changes in the menus and find out that they can eat healthy and have good taste at the same time, and she encourages folks to bring a friend. All ages are welcome.

For more information, contact Shields at 874-2665.

 

December sales in Clarendon took a hit based on figures released last week by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs

In making her office’s February allocations to cities across the state, Combs reported that the City of Clarendon would receive $35,885.17, a drop of 10.49 percent from the same period one year ago.

February allocations represent monthly sales made in December as well as sales by businesses that report tax on a quarterly or annual basis.

Clarendon had shown a growth in sales tax receipts of 6.60 percent last month with a January allocation of $26,006.04, but the slide in December sales now puts the city behind 4.02 percent for the calendar year.

The City of Hedley, which was down more than 44 percent last month, gained 13.84 percent this month with a rebate of $726.68 but remains 13.76 percent down for the year-to-date.

Howardwick is up 38.49 percent at $1,419.12 for this month compared to a year ago and is running 7.3 percent ahead for the year.

Statewide, Combs said the state sales tax revenue in January was $2 billion, up 9.5 percent compared to January 2011.

“Sales tax revenue continues to grow in almost all major economic categories and revenue has now increased for 22 consecutive months,” Combs said. “The recent monthly increase was led by the oil and natural gas-related sectors. Restaurants and services sectors also showed significant gains.”

Cities across the state received $470.1 million, an increase of 6.7 percent compared to one year ago.

For details of February sales tax allocations to individual cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts, locate the Monthly Sales Tax Allocation Comparison Summary Reports on the Comptroller’s Web site at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/allocsum/compsum.html.