During the third annual Smith County Warrant Round Up, 385 warrants were cleared and $132,870 was collected.

In 2014, the county collected $90,000, and $80,000 in 2013.

“This is the most successful warrant round up the county has ever had,” Smith County Judicial Compliance Supervisor Sheryl Keel said. “We’re definitely going to do this again in the future.”

Smith County combined forces with other jurisdictions across Texas to participate in the largest joint warrant round up of this type in the state.

The Smith County courts had hundreds of active warrants they were seeking to clear through the round up.

Ms. Keel said the warrant round up started when more than 4,000 bright pink notices were mailed out Feb. 20 to anyone with outstanding court costs and fines where a warrant had been issued.

On March 7, local law enforcement began visiting homes, neighborhoods and places of work to arrest anyone who had not settled their debt with the county. Agencies involved included the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, constables’ offices, Smith County Judicial Compliance Department, pre-trial services and the 911 Center.

Only three arrests were made on March 7, but residents continued to pay their warrants to clear their cases throughout March.

– Casey Murphy is the public information officer for the Smith County Commissioners Court.