Call it service with a smile, rather than service with a warrant.
Whatever you call this court-date notification program, call it a success.
In two years since Jefferson County created the program to contact people about upcoming court dates, staff member Paula Hancock and volunteers have cut the failure-to-appear rate by 52 percent.
Now Arapahoe County is adopting the program to curb the number of no-shows. Those who don’t make a court date re-enter the system with a new charge, a warrant for arrest and, often, a waiting cell in the county jail.
“It’s a win for the sheriff’s department, it’s a win for the people who need to show up in court, as well as the taxpayer,” said Jim Shires, spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Shires said deputies’ most common arrest is for those who don’t appear in court, a needless use of time.
The Jefferson County Criminal Justice Strategic Planning Committee of judges and law enforcement and other county officials started the program two years ago after statistics showed a trend of more people missing court dates.
While arrests in Jefferson County were up 2.9 percent from 2000 to 2003, the failure-to-appear rate was up 6.8 percent.
The report also found that the workload increased “significantly” for anyone associated with a failure-to-appear warrant.
In March 2004, an analysis by the National Institute of Corrections found that one-third of the people in the Jefferson County Detention Facility had failed to comply with court orders, and three-fourths of those were charged with failure to appear.
About 90 percent of those were first-time offenders who may not have understood the gravity of skipping court.
A little encouragement and a little information is often all that’s needed to get someone to court, said Hancock, who runs the program in Jefferson County.
Hancock and a volunteer contacted 1,000 suspects last month, most of whom got to court.
Of those people volunteers fail to reach by phone, 30 percent will miss court, an analysis of the program found. Of those they reach, less than 10 percent will skip court.
Hancock not only reminds people of the date and time of their appearances but answers questions about where they should go in the courthouse, how early they should show up, which documents they should bring, and even what people should wear.
Many first-time offenders aren’t aware that in many cases they could work out a plea agreement with prosecutors in advance, pay their fines and court costs and avoid court altogether, she said.
Arapahoe County started the program this month. Val Purser, the volunteer coordinator for Arapahoe County, needs 10 volunteers willing to work about four hours a week at the Arapahoe County satellite courthouse in Aurora. Bilingual volunteers are especially needed.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
Failure to appear
In most cases, failure to appear is a misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail. A failure to appear on offenses such as driving under the influence of alcohol can cause a suspension of a driver’s license.
Other possible consequences: arrest at home or work; convicted in absentia; collection agency involvement for fees.
In traffic cases involving a minor, a parent is required to attend. Failing to appear can lead to a misdemeanor charge, a $500 penalty and six months in jail, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
