The Xenia Municipal Court says to pay your past fines now or face the possibility of stricter enforcement later. This announcement was made at a press conference held by Judge Michael K. Murry, Clerk of Court Pete Creamer, and Chief Probation Officer, Bobby Robbins.
On the 1st of February 2010, Judge Murry issued a Court Entry declaring an Amnesty program that continues through April 30, 2010.
During amnesty program period, anyone who has an outstanding warrant from the period of January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2008, for failing to pay fines, non-compliance with Court orders, probation violations, etc… may report to the Clerk of Court’s office without fear of arrest. If you have an active warrant and it’s a minor misdemeanor, it must be older than one year, any misdemeanor older than five years old with the exception of any version of Driving Under the Influence, Driving Under Suspension, Assault, or Domestic Violence; those offenses must be older than seven years, and any misdemeanor non-support warrant must be older than 10 years. The violator must pay the outstanding balance on all cases that will include court costs, fines, probation fees, parking tickets, restitution and license forfeiture fees.
As an additional incentive, during the amnesty period the $100.00 court costs for issuing the warrant will be waived. Once this has been accomplished, the warrant will be recalled and your case(s) will be closed within Xenia Municipal Court with no further action required. Any traffic, criminal, parking, probation, or civil case may be resolved in this manner.
This is the third consecutive year that Xenia Municipal Court has held an amnesty program. With this program in place, offenders must understand that by paying their fines, parking tickets, court costs, and restitution, they have the opportunity to have completion of their unfinished court business without further penalty. This will also lift warrant blocks on the offender’s license. The Court also believes this will alleviate over-crowded jails and enable officers to invest that time on more serious criminal matters. These warrants range from outstanding parking tickets to assault on the misdemeanor level. Although we realize that some people are afraid to face their responsibilities or don’t want to come to court for the fear of being arrested, there is a very real possibility of more severe punishment if the amnesty program is ignored and the warrants are not dealt with.
At the present, there are approximately 1200 individuals who have outstanding warrants issued for their arrest. There are also a large number of unpaid parking tickets that should be paid at City Hall’s Utility Billing that have the potential of becoming warrants.
To accommodate persons wishing to take advantage of this unique opportunity, the Xenia Municipal Clerk of Court’s office, 101 N. Detroit St., Xenia, Ohio is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.