FAQs

• What is “In the Neighborhood” all about?

  “In the Neighborhood” is a Community Outreach program of Cleveland Clerk of Courts Earle B. Turner. It helps people address legal issues that keep them from driving legally, getting a job or renting a place. People with warrants for traffic tickets and minor misdemeanors can meet one-on-one with clerk staff to get a realistic plan for getting past the warrants and getting their lives back on track.

  NO ONE IS ARRESTED “In the Neighborhood”.  The clerk staff cannot make tickets and warrants disappear, but they do put people on payment plans or schedule them for court dates in Cleveland and more than a dozen suburbs.  Click here for more information.

• How do I get signed up for an event “In the Neighborhood”?

  So that we can give quality service to all our guests without overwhelming our staff, we limit the number of people at each “In the Neighborhood” session. 

  Attending an “In the Neighborhood” session is a two-step process, and it takes most of a day. We start signing in at 9AM on Thursday mornings. It is best to get there to sign in close to 8AM, because a lot of people come quite early. Bring your driver’s license (even if it’s expired) or your State ID card. If you don’t have either, we can still register you. Once we’ve taken your social security number, and given a summary of the program, we let people leave for a couple hours while we research what is on the record.
  
  We ask people to come back at 12:30 PM to hear from the service agencies that will be in the room. We start calling people at 1PM to tables in the order that they signed in.  Usually everyone has been seen by 3:30 PM.  Click here for more information.

• What suburbs can I get a court date for?

  Not only can you get a new court date for a warrant in Cleveland at an event “In the Neighborhood”, there are now 13 suburbs that have agreed to accept people referred to their courts. Judges in the 13 suburbs have agreed that people who have been identified on their schedule as “In the Neighborhood” referrals, who bring their In the Neighborhood paperwork will not be arrested for their traffic warrant or non-violent misdemeanor. They will have a hearing, and will be put on a payment plan. The suburban partners are;

  Bedford, Berea, Bratenahl, Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland Euclid, Garfield Heights, Lyndhurst, Parma, Rocky River, South Euclid, Shaker Heights, and Woodmere. Click here for more information.

• What other agencies can I see “In the Neighborhood”?

  In the Neighborhood is more than just a program for addressing tickets and warrants. People who come can get a range of services from our partnering agencies to help make their lives better. Click here for a complete list of participating agencies.

• Why Should I Care About Parking Tickets?

  Unpaid parking tickets in Cleveland can turn into a nightmare if they are ignored. You could try to get new license tags and find out that there is a registration hold on the tags. If 5 or more parking tickets go unpaid for too long, you can become eligible to be towed! Learn how In the Neighborhood can help with unpaid parking tickets.