Amnesty offered for traffic tickets
Las Vegas Justice Court officials will waive late fees and penalties for people with outstanding traffic tickets starting Monday.
The traffic warrant amnesty program allows people to avoid arrest or late fees, but the tickets still must be paid, Chief Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Doug Smith said Friday.
"This is a second chance to come in and pay for an outstanding traffic ticket," he said.
The program ends Feb. 6. At that point, the court will enforce arrest warrants for people with outstanding tickets, and no amnesty program will be offered in 2009, Smith said.
After the program ends, Las Vegas constables for the first time will begin enforcing warrants for unpaid traffic tickets, Smith said. People with unpaid tickets will receive phone calls or post cards warning them of the ticket.
Some 200,000 outstanding tickets represent $135 million, Smith said. The money received from the tickets will go to the Clark County general fund.
"We believe this is a serious matter," Smith said. "We want to be fair. We want to help everyone, especially those who forgot about their traffic tickets."
For more information, call 702-671-3444, or if you are out of state, call 877-455-1289. For further information, go to the court's Web site at www.clarkcountycourts.us/paythefine.html, or visit the traffic division on the first floor of the Regional Justice Center at 200 Lewis Avenue.
Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.
