Warrant Resolution Work Group

September 8, 2000

Members Present: Judge Vance Peterson, Judge Carol McRae, Dick Van Wagenen, Christie Hedman, Tony Susinski, Tanda Schwamberg, Ron O'Gwin, Joel Quay, Debbie Wilke, Kathy Knox, Gary McGuire, Mike Shaw, Howard Delaney

Doug Haake-OAC Staff

Call to Order

Judge Peterson called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The August 10 Minutes were adopted without changes.

Reports

Community License Reinstatement.

The committee reviewed documents provided by Howard Delaney describing Spokane's program, assessment of that program, and projecting the costs associated with a statewide coordinator for community license reinstatement.

Action Item: Recommend license reinstatement become a statewide program and that a coordinator be appointed to act as a repository for information and to provide assistance in developing programs.. Participation by individual courts would be voluntary and tailored to meet local needs. Funding to seed new programs should be available through a revolving loan fund. Coordination and funding to be administered by OAC. Carried

Statewide Collections

Action Item: Recommend that DISCIS be modified to accommodate universal cashiering for current accounts, that OAC contract with a statewide collections agency for collection of delinquent accounts, with oversight by a committee of judges and court managers, and that work continue on developing a central payment system for all court collections.

Discussion: participation by courts in centralized collections of delinquent accounts is mandatory. Howeveer, individual courts can determine when an account becomes delinquent.

Carried

Warrants Pilot Project (HB 2799)

The committee reviewed the work that has been done but does not feel the committee has enough information to make a recommendation at this time. The committee encourages those working on the pilot to continue to address this important issue.

Decriminalization

Draft legislation was reviewed by the workgroup that would create a DWLS IV infraction. The proposal was modeled loosely on the No Valid Operator's License scheme. The committee questioned the wisdom of using jail space to punish an inability to pay. The committee determined to decriminalize DWLS where the underlying problem is failing to pay fines. The penalty for those who continue to drive after an suspension based on failure to pay would continue to be subject to impounds. The committee felt impound to be a more immediate and fruitful incentive to resolve unpaid financial obligation. The draft will be sent back to the code reviser for changes.

Action Item: Recommend decriminalization of some DWLS 3rd where the underlying basis for the suspension is failure to pay fines. Impound would continue to be available to enforce payment. An implementation date of January 1, 2002 was agreed on to accommodate other projects pending at DOL. Carried

Warrant Gradation: The committee jurisdictional or geographic limitations on warrants. The committee felt this is a resource issue that does not remove warrants from the system. It also raises other issues such as whether a limited warrant would toll speedy trial requirements. Judge Peterson suggested this may be an appropriate education topic for discussion with the DMCJA.

Warrant Age: There is currently provision for review of warrants that have been in the system for a period of time. Jurisdictions differ in their approach to dealing with aged warrants. Some concerns were raised about the court on its own motion taking action to dismiss old cases or warrants. Judge Peterson indicated this might also be an education topic.

Final Report

The committee reviewed the draft interim report and a proposed position statement prepared for the committee. The committee felt the position statement did not express the committee's views. Doug Haake was asked to incorporate some of the position statement's content into the committee's final report. The final report is due to BJA Project 2001 on September 25, 2000. Doug will try to circulate the report for comment before finalizing it.

Other Business

The committee suggests additional discussion in the following areas:

Education--

When should warrants be used and what alternatives to issuing warrants exist.

Reminder programs.

Walk in warrant recall dockets, with advertising
Expand statewide office overseeing relicensing to cover other restorative justice model programs like drug courts.

Adjournment