What hath the warrant roundup wrought?

As you know, the Great Texas Warrant Roundup is now over. How'd they do?

More than $383,000 in fines was collected in Houston during a recent statewide warrant sweep, clearing 1,444 outstanding municipal court cases, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said last week.

The official statewide tally of cases cleared and fines collected still is under way, but officials in Angleton, Cleveland and Missouri City were able to provide their statistics.

More than 67 outstanding warrants were cleared in Angleton, bringing in about $6,000 in uncollected fees and fines, said municipal court clerk Natalie Cardenas.

In Cleveland, Officer Zach Harkness said 50 warrants were cleared, bringing in about $5,000. Only two people were actually arrested there, Harkness said.

Missouri City Court Administrator Cathy Haney said 81 warrants were cleared, bringing in $22,721.50.

Not bad for a week, though when contrasted with statements like "Dallas had 400,000 warrants with a value of $118 million" as we heard when this was first announced, it doesn't sound like much. And I still don't know how many people got arrested and spent time in county lockup instead of paying. So, while this is probably a worthwhile effort that should be repeated once a year or so, I can't say for certain. Without full information, it's just guesswork.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 19, 2007 to Crime and Punishment