Fort Worth municipal judges are conducting court sessions at a local job fair to assist residents in resolving outstanding warrants and traffic citations without the threat of jail time. The initiative, known as Court in the Community, is designed to remove barriers for individuals seeking to clear their records and move forward with their lives.
Hundreds of attendees gathered at the Resource Connection campus in Fort Worth for the Continuing to CLIMB job fair, an event focused on employment opportunities for people with past legal issues. In a side room at the venue, Chief Justice Simon Gonzales presided over the municipal court, offering a direct path to resolve legal obligations.
"This program, Court in the Community, warrants forgiveness; it allows people, if they have outstanding citations or warrants, they can come in and take care of their warrants or citations," Gonzales said. The judge noted that he can arrange payment plans, community service, or deferred adjudication depending on the nature of the citation and the individual's circumstances.
Aylissa Boardingham, a job seeker at the event, attended to dismiss parking tickets that had accumulated after her release from prison. Boardingham stated she was previously charged with aggravated robbery and robbery, charges she attributes to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She explained that while those charges were dismissed, she still needed to clear smaller violations to improve her employability.
"I'm young and I'm trying, and everybody's not perfect," Boardingham said. "I just want to go back to how it used to be, where I can go and get any job and I don't have to worry about background checks... But when you have a background, it's hard."
