Pharr waives court fees for unpaid traffic tickets

PHARR- Judge Rudy Martinez and the Pharr Municipal Court are offering a Christmas present to Pharr who have unpaid traffic tickets.

The court will waive the $194 failure to appear fine for those with past-due traffic tickets through January 2010 in its “Amnesty for the Holidays” program.

Those wishing to pay their overdue traffic tickets may do so without fear of reprisal at the Pharr Municipal Court, 1900 S. Cage Blvd. until Jan. 31, 2010.

“This is just a way for (Judge Martinez) to convey the Christmas spirit through the means that he has: by waiving the fine,” Pharr spokesman Gary Rodriguez said. “The savings are substantial. It’s a good way to engender some good will.”

The amnesty also has the potential to generate some end-of-year revenue for the city. The Municipal Court ran the amnesty program in February and collected $34,000, Rodriguez said.

“The failure to appear fine is minimal to the actual fines themselves,” he said.

Rodriguez emphasized, though, that those wishing to pay their fines must come in person and cannot pay off the fines over the phone.

“A traffic ticket is something that doesn’t go away, so this helps people clear up their status,” he said.

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Nick Pipitone covers McAllen, PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.