Has your lead foot gotten you in trouble speeding through Duluth lately? Perhaps you forgot about a parking ticket? Maybe you even forgot to appear in court and your driver’s license has been suspended.
Not to worry. The Duluth Municipal Court is offering a Citation Amnesty Program now through April 30. You can clear your name, avoid jail time, have your license reinstated and work with the court to come up with a payment plan if you can’t pay your ticket fine all at once.
Periodically, the city finds an accumulation of cases for minor infractions on their books. Some avoid coming into handle fines simply because they can’t afford to pay the ticket. Unfortunately, putting off those traffic tickets results in a “failure to appear,” that then leads to a bench warrant. When this happens, the Georgia Department of Driver Services automatically suspends the driver’s license.
The city wants to close these cases and help people get their lives back in order.
“Sometimes they’re reluctant to try to do anything about that, they’re afraid if they come to court they’re going to be arrested,” said Duluth’s Chief Judge and Court Administrator Charles L. Barrett, III. “What we try to do is address the need to close those cases and at the same time give someone the chance to come in and finally get the case resolved.”
During this amnesty program, Duluth will waive failure to appear fees and set up a court date to resolve the case.
“If it’s a case where they can just pay a fine, they can pay that in the clerk’s office and not even come to court,” added Judge Barrett. “If they’d like to come to court, we can talk about a way to pay their fine. It’s a chance to unburden themselves of that obligation in way that is less painful.”
Virtually all the cases eligible for this program are traffic violations.
Duluth conducted a similar program about 4 years ago and was able to clear 10 to 15% of outstanding cases. Judge Barrett hopes a little more publicity about the program will help them close more outstanding warrants this time around.
To participate in the amnesty program, call 770-623-2771, email amnesty@duluthga.net or stop by the municipal court clerk’s office 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Duluth Public Safety Center, 3276 Buford Highway.
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