Second Chance program means many warrants cleared with
citation
Morgan Hill – A special “A Second Chance-2006” program next month could save some law-breakers from jail time in Santa Clara County.
For the whole month of December, people with outstanding non-violent misdemeanor warrants or traffic warrants can go into any Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office or their local police station and turn themselves in. Instead of serving jail time for the outstanding warrant, the person will be given a new citation, a new court date and then released.
Last year, when the program was restricted to Sheriff’s offices only, a total of 522 people turned themselves in within Santa Clara County, resulting in 650 warrants getting cleared, said Lt. Jim Greer, records division commander for Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office.
“It’s a Christmas gift, if you will,” Greer said. “It helps us get warrants cleared, but it can also save some people from spending the holidays in jail if we pick them up and find they have outstanding warrants.”
Greer said he’s hoping the program will help clear 1,000 warrants this year now that all law enforcement agencies in the county are participating rather than just the Sheriff’s office.
Outstanding felony warrants or any warrants involving violence will not qualify under the “Second Chance” program.
Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal said he’s looking forward to getting cases closed by clearing up outstanding warrants through the program, though he didn’t know exactly how many warrants in Gilroy would qualify under the program’s guidelines.
“We’re a very proactive department, but we still have lots of warrants out there,” he said. “Trying to get them served in a timely manner can be overwhelming, so getting as many cleared out as possible next month could be very good thing for us.”
People with outstanding misdemeanor warrants in Santa Clara County can go to their nearest police department or Sheriff’s office to get the warrants cleared. If, for example, someone has a warrant in Campbell, they can take care of it at the Gilroy Police Department rather than having to drive north.
This is the second year for the “Second Chance” program and Greer said he’s hoping for another successful year.
