Time is running out for people with outstanding misdemeanor and traffic tickets in justice court to pay the fines without the additional fees under a spring amnesty program, after which bailiffs will begin aggressively seeking out scofflaws.

All justice courts in Nye County, the two in Pahrump as well as those in Beatty and Tonopah, began offering the amnesty March 1. It expires May 31.

A legal notice published in the newspaper about the program advises, "Don't get stuck in the summer storm, take advantage of Nye County justice court's spring relief."

June 1 marks the beginning of the "summer storm" in which bailiffs will be sent out knocking on doors in an aggressive attempt to collect the outstanding fines, according to Pahrump Justice of the Peace Tina Brisebill, who came up with the idea.

Under the program, the justice court will forgive fees for failure to appear, which is $25, and the warrant fees, which include a $100 collection fee each time.

"I think it was a success because we got some files closed and people didn't get arrested, and that's a win-win situation for everybody," Brisebill said.

While she said justice court clerks have been too busy to prepare a report on how much has been collected under the amnesty program, Brisebill estimated at least 30 files have been closed.

There hasn't been a phenomenal number of people responding to the amnesty program as there was in Las Vegas, where a well-publicized program has been underway, Brisebill said. But she added, "Considering the amount of cases we have it's not a bad estimate."

The amnesty applies for misdemeanor tickets as well as traffic tickets. A good 30 to 40 percent of the outstanding warrants are for traffic violations, Brisebill said. Trying to apprehend violators involves a lot of resources, she said.

"When they come to the window, if they have for instance a paper violation -- insurance, registration and driver's license violations. If they bring those things with them, I'll take a look at it and possibly dismiss that count. But if they have speeding, running a light, they can just pay the original amount on the citation and all the other fees are dismissed," Brisebill said.

It's the fourth time the justice court initiated an amnesty program, she said. This time, Brisebill decided to allow a little more time to pay, since it may be harder to get information to people living out in the rural areas. It could also take time for them to save up the money to pay off the fine, she said.

The alternative could be a bailiff knocking on the door in the near future.

"Our bailiffs are both certified peace officers and they will be using any spare time they have to pay visits to last known addresses and try to round up some of these. We have a tremendous number of cases we need to get processed," Brisebill said. "I don't see it as harassing people -- they have an obligation to take responsibility for their actions."

The aggressive collection effort isn't necessarily to offset revenues in the county's budget, she said, which are taking a hit from the tough economy.

Last November, county commissioners voted to spend $20,620 for a REV-Q system that will work with the justice court's case management system in identifying past due payments.

Gil Muise, collections manager for the Pahrump Justice Court, told commissioners the current system was manpower intensive, involving about 2,500 cases between the Pahrump and Beatty Justice court.

Muise said with the new system he can put a collection alert into the REV-Q system with addresses, the amount owed, any payment plans and generate reports, including warrants.

"I see this as a positive result in locating defendants and encouraging them to pay," Muise said.

Guise said since the start of the collections department in 2002, the justice court has collected $650,000.

Earlier this month, Brisebill started a Web site, pahrumpjusticecourt.org. The Web site includes contact information for justice court personnel in both Department A and Department B, information about entering pleas in court, rules of conduct in court, forms for things like evictions and protective orders, court calendars and payments.