In one year, the agency found 219 felons among the worst of the bad and caught three of its 15 Most Wanted, according to Arthur Roderick Jr., head of the service s fugitive investigations division. One quick fix being discussed nationwide is linking criminal data centers to state motor vehicle bureaus and barring anyone with an outstanding warrant from renewing a driver s license. Right now, if you have an outstanding parking ticket, you can t get your license renewed. But if you have a murder warrant out on you, you still get your license renewed, said Mike Davis, spokesman for the Baltimore County Executive Office. Lawmakers in Maryland recently passed legislation that takes effect July 1, barring people with outstanding warrants from renewing their licenses.
Similar proposals are under consideration in California, Washington and Massachusetts.
Some law enforcement officials believe far more radical steps are needed to stanch the flood of misdemeanor warrants. Suggestions include establishing separate courts to handle minor drug and traffic violations, setting warrant expiration dates and imposing fines instead of so-called bench warrants on those who miss court appointments. But Mark Spencer, Prince George s County deputy state s attorney, said he felt the backlog could be managed simply by setting up permanent review committees to regularly vet outstanding warrants. It was boring work that took nearly two hours. But when McCarthy and three aides had sorted through the files in an overheated side room of the District Court Building in Rockville, they had eliminated 500 cases from the county s backlog.