CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Corpus Christi's Warrant Resolution Month is designed to help residents clear up confusion about outstanding citations — but for one local family, the initiative created confusion of its own.
Joey Ramos said his wife received emails from Corpus Christi Municipal Court stating she had warrants for her arrest on 5 different charges. When Ramos went to the court to get answers, he said staff told him his wife needed to come in to address the fines and warrants.
"[The clerk] told me that my wife needs to come in because she owes all these fines, she has arrest warrants for her," Ramos said.
Ramos said his wife has no history of arrests or citations.
"In 30 years we've been together she has never been arrested or caught a citation," Ramos said.
After investigating, Ramos discovered his wife shared the same name as another woman with 5 active charges. The key difference: his wife was born 25 years before the person named in the warrants.
"My wife was talking to me she said 'Why should we go, why should I go and try to take care of somebody else's mistake when it wasn't even me?'" Ramos said.
A review of court records confirmed Ramos' wife shares a name with a different person who has 5 active citations on file.
Presiding Municipal Court Judge Jacqueline Del Llano Chapa said Warrant Resolution Month exists to help residents who may not be aware of outstanding citations against them.
"They may not know there's a warrant out there. Maybe there's a citation that they forgot about. We want to afford them this opportunity so they can come in and get it addressed," Chapa said.
Chapa said the court works to keep residents informed about upcoming hearings.
"We will send out emails we will send out text messages when they're up for court hearing if they've passed to give them the opportunity to come in," Del Llano Chapa said.
When I brought Ramos' concerns to Del Llano Chapa, she said she could not speak to individual cases but would look into the matter.
"The worst thing you can do if you have an active warrant is not come in and address it. We can't help them if they don't come in and address it," Del Llano Chapa said.
Shortly after my visit to Corpus Christi Municipal Court, Ramos said he received a call from the court confirming the warrant does not belong to his wife and that the family would no longer be contacted about it.
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