Special program helps with warrants ........................
Date Posted:12/7/09

Courtesy of The Havana Herald

A person with an outstanding warrant has a difficult life to live. It is hard to find a job or even apply for a position for fear of the warrant surfacing and the person ending up in jail. A simple traffic stop can mean a trip to jail. Any person with a warrant against them must constantly be looking over their shoulder afraid of making a mistake and drawing attention to themselves. With over 9,000 outstanding warrants, some dating back to the 1980s, the Gadsden County Sheriffs Office has a problem as well.

To alleviate the outstanding warrants and help those who are facing non-violent felony warrants and felony misdemeanor warrants, Sheriff Morris Young has created Safe Submission, a two-day moratorium to allow those who want to come forward and turn themselves in to do so in an expedited way.

On Thursday and Friday, October 29th and 30th, from 8 A.M. until 5 P.M., those with warrants can come to Santa Clara Baptist Church located at 841 East Jefferson Street in Quincy (across from the Masonic Lodge) and meet with authorities. Sheriff Young set up the safe submission plan to help individuals deal with these outstanding warrants in an orderly fashion. On hand to help with the process will be a circuit court judge and assistant state attorneys and public defenders. Plans are to process these cases as quickly and leniently as possible. There will be a number of local pastors on hand to help with counseling as well as WorkForce Plus to help those who turn themselves in with future employment.

Because outstanding warrants can deter individuals from good jobs or normal lives, Sheriff Young has stated that this is an opportunity for many Gadsden Countians to get this issue behind them and move on to a more productive life.