“We began sending out letters in February warning people who had warrants to take care of their situations before the roundup,” said Green. “The justices of the peace did the same thing shortly after we did. And between the letters going out and the roundup itself, we collected approximately $65,000 here in Municipal Court, and the justices brought in around $12,000. That's $77,000 collected, with the majority of it coming as a result of those letters. From my point of view, that's certainly impressive.”

Green said 20 arrests were made during the March 7 roundup, which was conducted as part of a statewide effort that could very well spur a quarterly roundup in the Howard County area.

“We still have plans to look at making this roundup a quarterly event,” said Green. “We're hanging back right now and waiting for the move to the new county jail to be completed before we lay down any solid plans, but the city council has made it clear they want to see this happen more often. Depending on how things go with the jail, we're looking at having at least one more roundup by the end of this year, and possibly two.”

Green said law enforcement agents with the Big Spring Police Department, Howard County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety participated in the daylong roundup, not to mention some unexpected assistance.

“Wayne (Wright, BSPD officer) did an excellent job working with the different agencies and pulling them together,” said Green. “We even had officials with the Glasscock County Sheriff's Office assisting us on the roundup.”

And while the roundup aimed to collect on delinquent fines and get wanted individuals off the streets, Green said there's been another, more unexpected boon from the effort.

“Even before the roundup itself happened, we recognized some needed changes in the way he handle these citations and warrants,” said Green. “It's led us to revamp the way we do things. Part of the classes I took in preparation for the roundup was one presented by a (money) collector, and he explained the closer to the initial offense we can get people in, the better.

“In the past, someone who received a citation would have 10 days to contact municipal court to make arrangements. We're now putting a much larger emphasis on that 11th day. We have a warrant officer contact them, and if that doesn't work, we have a court administrator contact them next. The idea is to get them in here and get their ticket taken care of as quickly as possible.”

For lawbreakers who decide to ignore the court's efforts to collect on fines, Green said it's only a matter of time before there is a knock on their door.

“If these revamped policies fail to get them in here and get their tickets taken care of, there's always the chance one of the officers participating in these roundups will knock on their door,” said Green. “I suppose they will wish they hadn't waited at that point.”

Anyone with questions regarding citations and warrants can contact Big Spring Municipal Court at 264-2531.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it