Woodstock offering 'Amnesty Month' to help residents with traffic violations
WOODSTOCK, Ga. - For the first time ever, the city of Woodstock is implementing something called "Amnesty Month."
Starting Friday, Woodstock and its municipal court is granting a reprieve to its residents.
People with delinquent traffic tickets or failure to appear in court for misdemeanor charges are getting a break.
Woodstock officials tell FOX 5 it's meant to help its residents alleviate stress and the financial burden of outstanding court fees that have continued to accrue and even compound for many years. The month is aimed at helping those who have minor traffic violations such as driving on a suspended license or an expired tag or even running a red light or stop sign.
The program doesn't start until Friday, but it's already a huge hit. Officials say their phones blew up from people calling. Many have even come in to try to take advantage of the offer and clear their name.
"We felt it was the right thing to do to get through the backlog of open cases and encourage people to come in and take care of that without fear of being arrested," Woodstock assistant city manager Coty Thigpen said. "Because of all the uncertainty in the economy, we thought it was a good program to offer."
Over the last week or so, the court mailed more than 1,400 letters to people with open cases letting them know of Amnesty Month. For the whole month, defendants can just pay the citation and the failure to appear charge will disappear, and all warrant fees will be dismissed.
Officials say the exception to the month is any mandatory court appearances.
"They do have to come in and take care of the warrant fee, but what we will do in that case is reassign the court date," Thigpen said.
City officials say they understand the last two years have been difficult for not only court systems across the state but also for the public. Many courts were closed or operating at a limited capacity, which could have led to confusion.
At last check, 22 people have already paid their failure to appear fees, four warrants have a new court date reset, and 15 people have passed. Amnesty Month in Woodstock ends at 5 p.m. on April 29.