Municipal court offers amnesty period

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
For the next month, the city of Russellville is offering an amnesty period to help those who have outstanding warrants in the municipal court.
The amnesty period will last until July 31.
Municipal court clerk LaDonna Hitt said the amnesty period would allow the city to reduce its number of warrants outstanding while helping those people make payment arrangements.
The court will allow those individuals with certain types of warrants to make payment arrangements or re-schedule court dates without being arrested or taken to jail.
"The opportunity to settle a warrant without going to jail is a great chance for defendants to take advantage of payment arrangements," Hitt said.
It will also allow those people to settle cases at the current court costs schedule. Beginning Aug. 1, court costs will increase by $26 per case.
Throughout the amnesty period, it is the responsibility of the person with the warrant against them to contact the city court to make arrangements.
When the amnesty period ends on July 31, the police department will increase their efforts to locate defendants. If a person has a warrant, it is likely that they will be arrested during the concentration period beginning Aug. 1 and payment arrangements will no longer be an option.
If a person has an outstanding warrant for an offense for which they failed to appear in court, they can report to the Russellville Municipal Court inside the old city hall building between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. each business day until July 31.