Beginning Feb. 2, Vicksburg residents who owe back fines in Municipal Court will have one month to pay them off and avoid possibly going to jail.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday approved a month-long amnesty period from Feb. 2 to April 3 to give people an opportunity to pay their past due fines and avoid having a warrant issued for their arrest for non-payment.

Currently, the city is owed about $2.7 million in unpaid or partially paid fines, according to the city’s accounting department.

In 2014, the Vicksburg Municipal Court collected $61,756.41 in back fines from people who took advantage of the amnesty period to pay off their old fines avoid a warrant and possible arrest. The amount was about $7,307 more than the $54,449.08 in delinquent fines and fees collected in 2013, and about $5,133 more than collected in 2012

“This is something the Municipal Court does each year to try and get people in to pay their fines,” City Attorney Nancy Thomas said. Thomas is a former Municipal Court Judge. “They can waive the warrant fee that’s attached to it if they come in and clear up their business with the Municipal Court.”

“It’s a way of relieving people of their penalties if they just come on their own,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said.

“If they (offenders) come on in, they (the court) will withdraw the warrant,” Thomas said. “Most of these are past due fines, and people are subject to arrest for contempt of court. It saves them the trouble of being arrested and having to bond out of jail. It gives them an opportunity to pay their fine without having to worry about that contempt of court warrant.”