Miss Your Court Date? Douglas County Wants To Help

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — Have you, or someone you know, missed a court date in Douglas County and want to make things right? Well, now's your chance.

Douglas County Solicitor General Matthew Krull is giving folks who have found themselves in that situation — be it for a traffic citation, or something more serious — a second chance.

"This is an opportunity to appear in court and resolve their case without having to worry about additional fees or getting arrested on the bench warrant," Krull said.

The amnesty will apply to people in Douglas County who have failed to appear in court on either a traffic citation or criminal case. The case must be in Failure to Appear (FTA) or Bench Warrant (BW) status, Krull said.

Anyone who has a traffic citation in Failure To Appear status will be allowed to appear during the month of November at the State Court Clerk's office to resolve the citation. Any additional fees for failing to appear will be waived.

People who have received a bench warrant must appear between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Nov. 6 or 13 to speak with a prosecutor about their case. Failure to Appear and Bench Warrant fees will also be waived in those cases.

To be clear, the amnesty does not waive the possibility of probation or jail time for the underlying charges. Accommodations in those cases will be made for scheduling plea dates if people want to plead guilty.

In Douglas County, about 2,000 people are facing having their license suspended because they didn't respond to a citation in time, according to Krull. He said there are bench warrants for the arrest of hundreds more for missing court dates in their cases.

"I’ve sent letters to these individuals encouraging them to appear, but I wanted to take this a step further,” Krull said. "We want to give the community an opportunity for resolution so they could perhaps get a job and have a better situation in life. As the holidays approach, my office wants to help."

The Solicitor General represents the people of Douglas County and the State of Georgia as the court's prosecuting attorney. The State Court, and therefore the Solicitor General, handles all misdemeanor criminal and traffic offenses committed in Douglas County.

For more information you can call the Solicitor General’s office at 770-489-5238 or email at scsolicitor@co.douglas.ga.us.

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