Hundreds clear their arrest warrants in Pueblo

Posted: May 21, 2023 / 06:00 PM MDT

Updated: May 21, 2023 / 10:52 PM MDT

(PUEBLO, Colo.) — Hundreds of people in Pueblo who had warrants out for their arrest, no longer have to worry about going to jail following Pueblo’s 10th Judicial District warrant clearance day.

People who had a warrant out for their arrest were told to come to the Dennis Maes Pueblo Judicial Building on Saturday, May 21, to clear their names. Montina Lujan, who came in that morning said she was really nervous about it, fearing that they would arrest her.

But, Lujan was one of many who thought this might be some kind of scam to lure in Pueblo’s criminals.

“We heard that from a lot of people who wondered if they’re going to get jammed up when they get here. But, nobody did and nobody will,” said Pueblo’s 10th Judicial District Court Judge, William Alexander.

Despite the speculation, almost 400 people decided to take a chance and on a fresh start in life.

“We honestly thought there might just be 20 to 25 people that show up… But, a huge crowd has shown up… We have some cases from the late nineties that people have a warrant out for their arrest and they’ve been trying to avoid the police for 27 years on a traffic ticket,” said Judge Alexander.

The warrants they were handling were for lower-level criminal charges, so these people, who were just one step away from jail, really had no reason to be.

“These are folks that have a warrant out for them but haven’t gotten in trouble for anything else… A lot of people, when they know they have a warrant, their life’s on pause. They’re not applying for jobs. They’re afraid to go places. They have a cloud hanging over their head, basically,” said Alby Singleton, the head of Pueblo’s Public Defender’s Office.

Pueblo’s 10th Judicial District brought in a full court and legal staff who worked working tirelessly, on their day off, to absolve people of their arrest warrants. This was a process that might’ve taken people days to resolve but on Saturday, took just 30 minutes.

“All of us are public servants. We’re here to serve the community… I think it is much more efficient by doing it on a Saturday… We can devote today to just resolving these types of cases, these outstanding matters,” said Anthony Marzavas, the 10th Judicial District’s assistant district attorney.

After the massive turnout, Pueblo’s judicial staff says they will definitely look into hosting another warrant clearance day in the near future.

“Seeing their faces when they’re walking out of the court building and they’re knowing that they’re going to have an opportunity to move forward, it’s been great,” said Singleton. “I think that everybody here is having a good day in court, which is something that’s pretty rare.”

The officials numbers from Pueblo’s court executive showed: