By Sarah Lawlor
Lincoln Journal Star, Neb.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Neb. — At one point on Thursday night, it was a standing room only in a Lincoln courtroom while more than 50 people waited to have their arrest warrants cleared during a “Warrant Wipeout” event.
The event, at the Lancaster County Court, was a collaboration between the city of Lincoln and Lancaster County criminal justice system stakeholders.
“Warrant Wipeout” was meant to give individuals with qualifying misdemeanor arrest warrants an opportunity to have those warrants cleared without having to be taken into custody over the holidays, according to a Lancaster County Attorney’s Office press release.
Clearing the warrants also gets cases back on track in the court system, the release said. A total of 120 warrants were recalled.
The event was in addition to the regular bi-monthly after-hours Night Court session, which is available to residents who are unable to attend regular court sessions without risking losing their jobs.
Night Court started in 2019 as a joint effort between County Court judges, the county attorney, the public defender, the Sheriff’s Office and the Lincoln City Attorney’s Office .
“The court system can be scary to navigate, but when we all work together, really good things can happen,” Lancaster County Public Defender Kristi Egger said in the release. “This was one of them.”
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