Citizens will have an opportunity to clear their records of outstanding misdemeanor warrants through Better Family Life’s St. Louis Metropolitan Area Amnesty Project. For the fourth year in a row, BFL has teamed up with St. Louis Community College to offer the program at three STLCC campuses over three days from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The program concludes this Saturday, Aug. 9, in the Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts at the Forest Park campus, 5600 Oakland Ave. It kicked off Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Meramec campus, 11333 Big Bend Rd. and continued Wednesday, Aug. 6, at the Florissant Valley campus, 3400 Pershall Rd.
Citizens will be assessed a $10 processing fee to cover all warrant vouchers. Misdemeanor warrants run the gamut—from housing code violations and loitering to low-level assaults and failing to have your dog on a leash, said BFL Community Outreach Vice President James Clark. STLCC representatives will be on hand to discuss available educational opportunities.
“We’re very excited about this program,” said St. Ann Police Chief Aaron Jimenez. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
BFL has also partnered with Mid-America Transplant Services, a regional organ and tissue procurement organization for eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and northeast Arkansas. MTS representatives will assist interested individuals with on-site organ and tissue donor registration.
The Amnesty Project provides citizens the chance to build more productive futures for themselves and their families. Over 14,000 citizens participated last year, Clark said. That number is estimated to increase by 3,000 this year generating an economic impact of close to $3 million, he said.
Economic impact is based upon citizens who are now able to obtain employment, rent property or enroll in higher education institutions without the repercussions of outstanding warrants, he said.
“Warrants are small infractions of the law that become mountains as people try to access resources,” he said. “We have had single mothers forced to live in sub-standard conditions because they have outstanding warrants.”
Through the Amnesty Project, he said, municipalities have an opportunity to close a lot of cases and gain access to a steady revenue stream. More than 65 St. Louis city and county municipalities are participating this year including Ballwin, Frontenac and St. Charles County.
“Municipalities beyond the urban core are beginning to see the value,” he said of the Amnesty Project.
There are plans to include the Metro East next year, he said. There is also an interest to expand the Amnesty Project model to cities outside of St. Louis, beginning across the state in Kansas City, Mo. Other possible cities include Detroit, Memphis, and Indianapolis.
“We have done our research,” he said. “No other city does it the way that we do here.”
The Amnesty Project was established in 2002 as a one-day event to help citizens clear their records of outstanding traffic-related warrants. The program has been expanded to include all misdemeanor warrants, body attachments and other child support-related infractions that can carry a lengthy jail sentence.
He said, “Once that child support warrant is issued, an individual can face up to six months in jail.”
The Amnesty Project is part of BFL’s annual week-long Family Week, August 1-12, now in its 29th year. BFL believes that family is the single-most important unit that makes up society and the nonprofit is dedicated to changing families by empowering individuals, he said. The theme is “Back to the Basics – Faith, Family and Neighborhood.” By focusing on these three fundamental pillars, he said, the community will begin to see a resurgence of love and respect and a decrease in crime, violence, and dysfunction.
“We are dedicated to finding internal solutions to the ills, to the obstacles and conditions that plague our neighborhoods,” he said.
For more information, visit www.betterfamilylife.org or call (314) 381-8200.
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