A crackdown on outstanding warrants is underway in Luzerne County.
District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis and Sheriff Brian Szumski are starting to publicly release the names of hundreds of people wanted for failing to appear for county court hearings to see if anyone knows how to find them.
Salavantis and Szumski say they’re resorting to a public campaign because the county has one of the highest numbers of outstanding warrants — currently around 2,000 — among counties in the state. In comparison, county officials had estimated the accumulation of outstanding warrants was approximately 1,148 in 2007.
The sheriff and district attorney reviewed the list and identified hundreds of warrants issued years ago that are still active on the books, many for failure to appear in court a decade ago. Some of the underlying offenses were later resolved, but the warrants for missing court hearings were never canceled, or “lifted” in court terminology, they said.
These older, outstanding warrants are the ones that will be publicly released, Szumski said.
The warrants, which were for missed post-arraignment court proceedings, can only be lifted by a county judge, Szumski said.
Some of the named people may not realize their their attorneys never made a motion asking a judge to lift all outstanding warrants when their cases were adjudicated, Szumski said.
“We can’t do anything to remove a name from the records until we have a court order saying it is lifted,” Szumski said.
Salavantis said the appearance of a name on the list should not be equated with wrongdoing because some may have no idea they have outstanding warrants. Addressing the matter will benefit those on the list because their outstanding warrants remain in a national database, which means they may be detained and lodged in prison pending a hearing if they are picked up for a traffic ticket, she said.
“We want to get this cleaned up so we can focus on present active cases and make sure everyone is held accountable,” Salavantis said.
The first batch of 200 names ending in letters A through D will be published in area newspapers starting Sunday and includes people who missed court hearings regarding charges of driving under the influence, bad checks, harassment, possessing drug paraphernalia, document forgery, retail theft and disorderly conduct.
Lists will be publicly released in waves at undetermined intervals to prevent the sheriff’s office from getting simultaneously bombarded with responses, the officials said. Those with information about listed people are asked to contact the county sheriff department’s anonymous tip line at 1-888-796-5519.
Salavantis said she also asked the county information technology department to post the list on the county website, www.luzernecounty.org.
Szumski said the list must be reduced to a manageable size because his office continues to receive new warrants amid other responsibilities — to provide courtroom security, transport prisoners, serve documents and conduct mortgage foreclosure sales.
His office typically receives around 150 to 300 new warrants per month and picks up around that number of wanted individuals in that time span, he said.
Szumski also welcomed assistance from police tracking down listed people who are from their communities. While his office is the lead warrant processor, the court orders direct all law enforcement to pick up those who didn’t appear in court, he said.
Listed people who are picked up must appear before a judge and may be lodged in the county prison if necessary while they await a hearing, Szumski said.
County judges can accommodate an influx because they hold hearings on warrants three days a week, said county Court Administrator Michael Shucosky.
