AURORA | Aurora’s city court will likely “vacate” more than 4,000 outstanding warrants and send them to a collections agency following the signing of a law by Gov. John Hickenlooper this year that prohibits municipal courts from jailing poor defendants who can’t pay fines.
“Initially there was discussion about legal action,” said Zelda DeBoyes, court administrator for the Aurora Municipal Court, at the Monday, June 27 Aurora City Council study session. “I don’t know if we want to get in front of this and be the city that’s going after poor people.”
The council agreed to empower the municipal court to look at vacating 4,454 outstanding warrants for low-level crimes that Aurora officials believe would not be enforceable with the passing of House Bill 1311.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, closed what backers called a loophole in the law for municipal courts. Backers of the law and the American Civil Liberties Union say municipal courts found a loophole through issuing arrest warrants for “failure to appear,” despite a law being passed two year ago prohibiting debtor’s prisons in the state.
Aurora requires defendants to show up in court who set up a payment plan through the city. Each time a defendant fails to make a court date, $100 is added to a defendant’s fine through a “failure to appear” warrant.
The bill states municipal courts can no longer issue “failure to appear” warrants for people who have what the bill describes as undue hardships. Homelessness, use of public assistance, use of public housing or having an income less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line are all qualifying hardships.
Aurora resident James Fisher testified in favor of the bill earlier this year. He alleged that the City of Aurora had essentially put him in a debtor’s prison over the past four years, increasing his fine of $703 for three municipal violations in 2012 – two for an open container violation and one for driving without proof of insurance — to $1,500 in additional fees because of missed payments under a plan he set up with the municipal court.
Fisher testified that he lived “in and out of homeless,” in part because of the fines, and made 20 payments to the Aurora Court totaling $1,500, but still owed money to the city.
Presiding Aurora Municipal Court Judge Richard Weinberg claimed that he saw Aurora ahead of other cities by advising defendants of their right to a payment plan for fines, as well as the city’s creation of a walk-in court open every weekday afternoon to allow people to come in to see a judge and adjust payments.
Aurora officials say in order to pursue the warrants under the new measure, the city would have to locate and subpoena the 4,000-plus individuals who can’t be served warrants. That could add up to $35 per person, which would be too expensive to pursue, they say.
The Colorado Municipal League opposed the measure because they say it only compels defendants to pay fines if they voluntarily appear at hearings, and that the bill makes municipal court fines unenforceable.
“Most courts encourage defendants to set up payment plans, take time to find employment, get necessary treatment or do what needs to be done to overcome the obstacles to payment,” the Colorado Municipal League said in their formal opposition. “If a person has no ability to pay, courts regularly give alternative sentences such as community service.”