Delaware Courts host their second Safe Surrender event Friday, Nov. 3, at the Kent County Courthouse in Dover.
The Safe Surrender event gives individuals who have outstanding warrants or capiases a chance to clear their records in a one-stop, day-long event.
A capias is a court-issued warrant directing law enforcement to bring someone in before the Court when someone previously failed to appear in Court or failed to pay a fine or other court order payment like child-support.
Justice of the Peace Court Chief Magistrate Alan Davis says while this event does not offer amnesty, attendees will receive special consideration for their cases and may get the entire case resolved same-day.
“It really is an effort to get people to take things that have been hanging over their head that they’re afraid to deal with and give them this opportunity to do it in a safe environment," Davis said.
Justice of The Peace Court Operations Manager Roger Roof says their first event in Wilmington in May cleared around 800 capiases, and there are currently over 50,000 outstanding capiases in the state.
Roof says a vast majority of the cases involve rescheduling court dates for those who missed appearances, establishing new payment plans or resolving a case entirely.
“This is sort of ‘special consideration’ on steroids. You can potentially get the case resolved instead of just rescheduled and the potential for another lost court date or something like that. If you can resolve the case, the resolution is probably pretty favorable," Davis said.
He adds they are not likely to hold a Safe Surrender in Sussex County due to space limitations, so residents statewide are encouraged to attend this one.
Roof says police officer liaisons will be available to offer plea agreements same-day to try and resolve as many cases as they can, and capias fees will be eliminated.
You can find out if you have any active capiases or warrants in Delaware here and find out more information about the event here.
