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HEBER CITY — The Wasatch County Justice Court had an atypical amount of people come through for a usually quiet Thursday in February. Many who came in weren't a part of new criminal cases entering the county court system; rather they took advantage of a new program that allowed those with warrants to pay their warrant fees without being arrested.
In all, about 45 people cleared the legal air regarding low-level warrants. Anyone who had a warrant out for their arrest for minor offenses — such as unpaid traffic tickets or wildlife violations — went to court pay a court fee without being taken into custody Thursday.
Those who paid off the fee still had the court go through their case and work on a plan to move the court case forward, said Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby.
Anyone who needed treatment or counseling as a part of their court cases were placed back on schedule with those classes, and help was given to anyone who needed to get back on track paying fines.
"I think they had 30 (cases) by lunch. It completely packed the court all day long because of this," Rigby said. "I spoke with the judge involved, the clerks; they feel (like it was a success) and the attorneys do, also. I felt like it was very successful in reaching the community and working with them."
Some of those who came in told authorities they weren't aware or had forgotten tickets because they had been issued years ago, and were appreciative they could settle the matter without going to jail, he added.
It’s the first time the county has tried this approach to work with court cases. The sheriff’s office sent out about 950 letters to people who had warrants for their arrest in the county for minor offenses. Authorities also posted it on social media trying to get people to work with authorities, Rigby said.
The small court began to pack with people paying off their warrants and the courts went case-by-case.
Rigby said the idea is something he pushed for during his campaign for sheriff in 2018. Wasatch County is not the first county to remind those with low-level offenses they had fines to pay, but advertising a free court day was a new touch.
He hopes the county courts will try it again in the future. Rigby said officers don't like dealing with warrant arrests for minor offenses and it allowed the courts to lighten its case load.
“It’s meant to work with people and not be just really strict and hard-nosed about it, and instead try to help them resolve the issues they have in the cases going on,” he said. “Really it’s the courts, the attorneys (and sheriff's office staff) that are doing the hard work with it.”
