First Day of Walk-in Warrant Forgiveness Hearings Taking Place

Starting today, the Milwaukee Municipal Court will be holding special walk-in sessions to lift outstanding warrants on the first three Wednesdays of this month.

There are more than 100,000 outstanding municipal warrants in the City of Milwaukee, Alderman Khalif Rainey said, and the subjects of these warrants face the threat of arrest, loss of their driver’s license, debt from paying tickets or even unemployment because of their status. 

But Alderman Rainey said the Municipal Court judges have set aside November 2, November 9 and November 16 specifically to release the warrants and work with citizens to set up a payment plan or provide an extension to pay off their debt to the city. 

“People can rack up fines with the city through all kinds of relatively innocent mistakes,” Alderman Rainey said. “But the problem gets much worse when they fail to pay their fines in a timely manner, and the judges are forced to issue a warrant. Our municipal court judges would much rather work with citizens to resolve their issues than have them arrested, and I would urge anyone with outstanding warrants to take advantage of this unique walk-in opportunity to have your municipal court issues resolved.”

The special walk-in warrant withdrawal hours will run from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the Wednesdays listed above. Cases will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis, and numbers will be limited to 100 people in the morning and 130 people in the afternoon sessions. Everyone must arrive at least 15 minutes before the end of the session to provide enough time to check in for court.

Visit milwaukee.gov/citycourt for more information.