No. 1 in warrants
County takes over lead in state

By Leslie Wood
Staff Writer

A special section in today's Independent lists the more than 10,000 outstanding bench warrants issued in McKinley County.

GALLUP — McKinley County now ranks No. 1 in the state for its volume of outstanding bench warrants, a magistrate court official said.

McKinley County surpassed last year's leading counties, Dona Ana and Sante Fe, by issuing more than 10,000 outstanding warrants.

However, Bernalillo County is not considered in the analysis because it is governed by a metropolitan court rather than a magistrate court system.

Cynthia Sanders, judicial manager for magistrate court, said a number of warrants date back to the early 1980s and range from petty misdemeanor to felony offenses.

However, she said most of the warrants involve driving while under the influence of alcohol charges and traffic violations. Sanders said when The Independent published a list of the county's outstanding warrants in 2004, more than 200 people subsequently paid their charges at the court during the days following the special section's release.

"For a couple of weeks we had a constant flow of people coming in to pay," Sanders said.

Once warrant fees and charges are collected, they are sent to the court's administration department and eventually wind up in the state's general fund.

Unlike last year's offer to those who paid their bench warrant fines following the release of the edition, the court will not waive the $100 warrant fee.

The fee is used to fund several positions within magistrate court and Sanders said the system needs the income to keep the positions staffed.

Whoever pays their warrant fee will have the opportunity to meet with a judge concerning their case.

Sanders said arrest is unlikely for those charged with misdemeanor offenses and that residents with outstanding warrants should take advantage of the court's offer to pay off charges rather than risk jail time.

"I'd rather come in and see a judge than take my chance of being thrown in jail," she said.

Magistrate court is located at 285 Boardman Drive next to the Gallup-McKinley Adult Detention Center. The phone number is 722-6636.