Warrant restrictions tightened
Having someone thrown in jail will be harder at the first of the year as the state has tightened restrictions when it comes to private citizens obtaining warrants.
According to District Attorney General Dale Potter, effective Jan. 1, private citizens will not able to take warrants on people, but instead, citizens will be limited to obtaining citations for alleged offenders, citing them in to court to answer the charges.
“They made this change because there was a problem statewide of people getting mad at someone and going out and getting a warrant and getting them thrown in jail,” Potter said. “Then, when it came court time, the accuser didn’t want to push the charges. Then there were other times the accusers just plain accused the wrong people and had them locked up. We also had some folks overcharged when the warrants were taken by private citizens.”
Currently, any citizen can apply for an arrest warrant against another citizen, provided they can show a judicial commissioner cause as to why a warrant should be issued. Such warrants lead to the arrest of the accused person, who, in turn, is usually required to make bond before they can be released from jail.
“Even when the cases are dropped, the person accused has usually lost the bond money they used to get out of jail,” Potter said.
The new law will allow citizens to obtain citations against others, meaning a court date will be set up for the accused to answer the charges. The accused in these cases will not be arrested, but instead, just be required to report to court at a certain time by a summons.
While citizens cannot obtain warrants, arrests can still be made for offenses provided a law enforcement officer investigates the allegation and takes the warrant.
“I think, while it could mean more work for officers, this may cut down on work for the court since some folks won’t bother with taking citations since the person they are accusing won’t automatically be thrown in jail,” Potter said.
An exception to the law is included in cases of domestic violence where there is evidence of abuse. However, the law already allows officers to take warrants in such cases, even when the abused person does not want to seek charges.