From a Parking Ticket to a Jail Cell?

United States
January 9, 2007 8:02am CST
I just read an article in my local paper. It listed peoples names and what town they live in who owe on parking tickets. Some of people had quite a few outstanding tickets. At first I thought how bold...listing their names on the front page of the paper...but then I though what a great way to shame them into paying up! The article states that ignoring a parking ticket can lead to dire consequences and that you should immediately pay these tickets up. The police have sent the violators information to the DMV and if they are stopped they will be arrested. Do you think this is fair? If the police have a warrant for their arrest anyway and obviously know where they live why don't they just go get them? Wouldn't that save some time?
1 person likes this
1 response
lauriefnp
@lauriefnp (5109)
• United States
10 Jan 07
I think that this is what they call a "bench warrant". It's something that would be punishable by jail time if the fines are not paid, but the "crime" is not severe enough to justify the time and effort of the police force to go out and arrest them. The thought is that the fines will be re-couped in some manner if the person were to be pulled over for a moving violation or get into any other legal trouble; the outstanding tickets would pop up on their records. Some states also will refuse to re-register the vehicle if the outstanding tickets are not paid, which I think is a great idea. At least they would get the fines paid every 2 years with the registration renewals.