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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        MARCH 2, 2006

Spring Break Court in Session

The annual blitz known as spring break officially starts this weekend and Key West hotels and businesses aren’t the only ones in preparation overdrive.

Monroe County’s judiciary and law enforcement communities are also gearing up for the jump in alcohol-related offences they normally see during the March vacation.

Starting March 5, Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco agents along with Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Key West Police Department officers will patrol Key West’s beaches, streets, hotels and bars for errant spring breakers.

Those they nab – and last year they numbered in the hundreds – will visit a provisional court designed especially for them:  Spring Break Court.

Busted spring breakers must appear at 8:00 AM at the Key West Courthouse – hangovers notwithstanding.  And often that court appearance comes just hours after a young vacationer’s arrest.  Spring Break Court is in session seven days a week and arrest warrants are issued for no-shows.

The special court, which began in Key West in 1991, allows spring breakers to plead “no contest” to minor offences – falsifying ID’s to buy alcohol and disorderly intoxication – and spend eight hours picking up litter on Key West streets and beaches rather than coping with legal fees and criminal records.

They also have the option of paying $230 in fines and court costs rather than spending a day on a county work truck.  Most choose to work.

More serious crimes and repeat offenders are handled by the regular court system.

For its part, the Monroe County State Attorney’s office has agreed not to pursue more serious sentences for wayward spring breakers.  “We believe that most of the kids who have committed spring break misdemeanors are good kids who have made an isolated mistake,” said State Attorney Mark Kohl.  “We want them to learn from that mistake, but not to leave Key West with the burden of a criminal record.”

Spring Break Court is in session starting March 6 and lasts until March 24.

 

Last modified: 10/23/07                     Hit Counter

 

 

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