More than 275 law enforcement agencies throughout the state, including those in Kyle and San Marcos, recently participated in the Sixth Annual Great Texas Warrant Roundup. The two cities combined collected more than $119,000.

The roundup prompts law enforcement agencies throughout the state to collaborate and share information to track down delinquent individuals, and urges residents with outstanding warrants to pay their fines.

Kyle

At the beginning of its first roundup, the City of Kyle had more than 7,500 outstanding warrants with a value of $2.8 million.

Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said the public is advised of the event well in advance, via phone calls, postcards and announcements.

"Our goal isn't to arrest people but to ensure that the orders of the court are met, whether that means fines paid or community service," he said.

Kyle conducted its roundup Feb. 13–March 4. During one Saturday morning, a team of officers visited homes to serve warrants. Forty-six warrants also were cleared with phone calls alone and more than $7,750 was brought in one morning.

Altogether, the city cleared 179 warrants, with a total value of $82,000.

"I'm very happy with the results of the roundup," Barnett said. "And I am proud of the cooperation among the police department and the warrant officer."

Kyle's new warrant officer, Zach Castilleja, helped organize the roundup. Castilleja has been with the department for five years and was named warrant officer in December.

"The roundup was very successful, and I attribute that to the officers who did the legwork—knocking on doors, making phone calls," Castilleja said. "Next year, we plan to expand our efforts and work more closely with San Marcos, Buda and even Austin."

Division of funds

The statewide effort targets lower-level warrants for minor charges, including traffic and parking violations, city ordinance violations and others filed at municipal courts. Citations, such as speeding tickets, go into warrant status if the recipient fails to appear on or before the appearance date, which is typically is 30 days from the issuance of the citation.

Warrants typically have two fees—a fine and a court cost. When a warrant is paid, the money is divided between the city and the State of Texas.

The fine money, about 60 percent of the total, goes to the municipality. The court costs, about 40 percent, go to the state.

San Marcos

San Marcos has participated in the roundup for the past five years. This year's efforts kicked off Feb. 13 with a two-week amnesty period. Individuals with outstanding warrants were encouraged to come in on their own.

San Marcos had 10,119 outstanding warrants when its three-week roundup began.

Police were unable to determine the total value of the warrants. The department cleared 677 warrants and collected about $114,000.

"The roundup went smoothly," San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams said. "I think it's unfortunate that we have to do this every year, however. As a department, we'd much rather see individuals come in and take care of their citation so that we don't have to go find them."

Most offenders cooperated and took care of their warrants before the officers went door-to-door, Williams said.

"We aren't trying to threaten anyone, and we don't want to arrest people," he said.

A list of outstanding warrants for San Marcos is online at www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/cityhall/court/.