Holiday moratorium begins for North Las Vegas Municipal Court warrants

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2000 | 10:29 a.m.

North Las Vegas Municipal Court is offering an early Christmas present to people with outstanding misdemeanor warrants who would otherwise be arrested -- a get-out-of-jail-free card and a second chance to clear up their cases.

Suspects who have warrants out against them for misdemeanor crimes such as petty larceny, domestic battery and traffic offenses can visit the courthouse with empty pockets and not have to fear being tossed into jail. They will be given a court date to appear before Municipal Judge Warren Van Landschoot.

Normally, they would be assessed bail of from $100 to $3,000 in cash depending on the offense. If they could not pay the fines up-front, defendants would be arrested and jailed, said Christopher Kuminecz, acting supervisor for the warrant division.

The program started Monday and will last through Dec. 22, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Residents can take part in the holiday moratorium program without posting bond, as long as they don't have any gross misdemeanors or felony warrants in other jurisdictions, Kuminecz said.

Moratorium hearings will be held at 1:30 p.m. each Thursday in December and the first Thursday in January. Van Landschoot will then make payment arrangements with each suspect.

If suspects find themselves with extra money from Christmas bonuses, they can opt to pay half of what the court is owed. Van Landschoot said he will excuse the other half.

North Las Vegas for years worked with other jurisdictions during the annual Stand Down for the Homeless at Cashman Center to clear up misdemeanor cases. North Las Vegas decided three years ago, however, that it should branch out on its own to provide the service.

Last year, 1,420 people took part in the program in North Las Vegas, Kuminecz said.

Suspects are still being sought by the warrant division in North Las Vegas, and if they are stopped, they will be arrested if they have not signed up for the moratorium service.

While Henderson offers no comparable program, Las Vegas Municipal Court has offered the Christmastime warrant moratorium for more than a decade. This year, however, due to changing procedures and an upgraded computer system, the court has decided to delay the moratorium until after the new year.

Mike Havemann, court administrator for Las Vegas Municipal Court, said when completed the new system will allow residents to take care of traffic offenses and other misdemeanors over the phone and Internet.

"As a result of all this coming online, we decided it wasn't a good idea to bring in an extra 1,000 people (per day)," he said. "Once we have the program in place in January, we will notify people of the moratorium."

Las Vegas' moratorium last year, which ran from Nov. 16 to Dec. 31, resulted in $279,687 in fines being paid compared with $89,061 in 1997. A total of 3,255 defendants resolved 5,611 cases.

"The idea was that maybe people need money for Christmas and a lot are in warrant status, afraid to come into court for fear they will go to jail," he said.