BY SHERIFF ROBERT CARLSON | Posted: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:00 am
An important function of the Racine County Sheriff's Department is the service of warrants and commitments that have been issued by the circuit court.
A warrant is a court order directing law enforcement to arrest and detain a subject on a criminal charge until a bond has been posted or the detainee appears before the court. A commitment directs law enforcement to detain and hold a subject who was adjudicated by the court and assessed a fine and costs, which the subject later did not pay. To be released, the offender must pay the dollar amount indicated in the commitment, or serve a jail term in lieu of the fine and cost amount. In the case of a commitment from Family Court, the detainee must pay the indicated "purge" amount, or be incarcerated in the county jail.
The service of these orders is important for several reasons. First, the service of arrest warrants removes dangerous offenders from our streets and neighborhoods. Second, service of commitments holds people accountable to the courts in which they were adjudicated and, in the case of child support commitments, to the children who are the responsibility of the non-payor. Third, payment of fine and cost commitments and Family Court commitments generates significant revenue.
Today, there are in our system more than 6,000 active warrants and commitments issued by the circuit court. This represents more than
$1 million in uncollected revenue, as well as a multitude of offenders and scofflaws who need to "get right" with the justice system.
In March, the Sheriff's Department, in partnership with the Racine County Child Support Agency and the clerk of courts, assigned and dedicated two sheriff's deputies to the full-time service of warrants and commitments. The positions are two-thirds funded through Cooperative Agreement with the child support agency, with the remainder as part of the sheriff's budget. This funding structure allocates two-thirds of the deputies' time to serving Family Court commitments and warrants, and the remaining time to all other circuit court warrants and commitments.
The early results are good. For March and April, and working with the child support agency and the clerk of courts, the efforts of these warrants deputies resulted in more than $221,000 worth of warrants and commitments being cleared, with more than $10,000 collected in cash. In addition, a number of persons wanted on criminal warrants were arrested and jailed.
The goal of this initiative is compliance, not incarceration: compliance makes people whole again with the justice system, compliance reduces the jail population, compliance supports families and compliance generates badly needed revenue for the county. The child support agency, the clerk of courts and our warrants deputies will work with anybody who contacts us concerning the resolution of an outstanding obligation, including partial payment or restructuring of a financial obligation. The first call should be made to the clerk of courts, (262) 636-3203, for any matter other than child support, and their staff will then guide the caller to the next steps. For child support matters, please call (414) 278-5160 for proper guidance.
Robert Carlson is Racine County sheriff.