Truancy taken seriously in E Montgomery County

by khou.com staff
khou.com
Posted on August 5, 2010 at 7:37 AM

EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY – School-skipping teens and their parents were rounded up and hauled off to jail late Wednesday to face charges ranging from contempt of court to blue felony warrants. Constables arrested 19 in all and said the sweep was part of an ongoing effort to clear a backlog of outstanding warrants in the courts.

Judge James Metts held truancy court for teens that skipped school last month. Only half of the nearly 250 offenders showed up. Contempt of court charges were filed against the no-shows and the warrants were executed throughout the area Wednesday evening.
"Many of the folks here tonight had ongoing obligations to the court and they refused to take care of those obligations," said Judge Metts. "They’ve had many opportunities in the past to do so, but have blatantly refused, which resulted in their arrests here this evening."

The constables were aided by the Splendora Police Department and New Caney ISD police who helped serve warrants on juvenile offenders accused of refusing to go to court or disobeying court orders.

The cells became so crowded that extra offenders were put in the office area. Police said one teen girl who decided she did not want to stick around, thought she’d make a break for it and leave.
She was captured about 30 minutes later across the freeway and now faces escape charges.
Judge Metts said they still have many open warrants and will continue to work until they bring them all to a close. He suggests offenders come in and take care of their matters quickly. Metts said it is probably not as bad as they think.

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