Transcript of Interview With Melissa Kramer, Commissioner, Marion Superior Court, at Fugitive Safe Surrender, Indianapolis, Indiana, April 25-28, 2007

(Interview conducted by Leonard Sipes, Senior Public Affairs Specialist, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency)

SIPES: Hi, can I get your name, please?

KRAMER: Melissa Kramer, K-R-A-M-E-R.

SIPES: And you are a judge?

KRAMER: I’m a Commissioner with Marion Superior Courts.

SIPES: And the Marion Superior Courts is the larger Indianapolis area?

KRAMER: Correct.

SIPES: OK. And you are overseeing…you’re hearing cases today in…in this courtroom…

KRAMER: Yes.

SIPES: In Indianapolis regarding the Fugitive Safe Surrender program?

KRAMER: Correct.

SIPES: What’s been your impression so far?

KRAMER: Um…I…I love it. Its a great program. Um…its allowing people to come in and…and get this warrant off their back…um…in a safe setting and then to be able to either resolve their case or to get their case back on track to get it resolved.

SIPES: OK. When you first heard of the Fugitive Safe Surrender program what was your…what was your first impression?

KRAMER: I thought it was going to be a good program. Um…I think there is definitely an element of community uh…safety when you have people out there that have outstanding warrants. We have a lot of people that get pulled over for even a minor traffic violation that will…it will turn into a chase…

SIPES: Right.

KRAMER: …because they don’t want to get pulled over and…and find out that they have a warrant. So it puts everyone at risk when you have a situation like that. So to have this kind of a program where people can come in in a safe setting in a church environment like…such as this, they can be processed in a safe way, have food while they’re waiting if they…if there is a wait, there is childcare here as well available if you can’t take your child somewhere, um…and either get your case resolved today, get that warrant off your back and…or get your case set so you can get it resolved.

SIPES: Now in terms of the people with warrants in the District of Columbia who will hear this broadcast, in terms of their family, because what I am hearing as I interview them as they leave the building that much of this was a family decision in terms of coming in today, what would you say to the families? What would you say to the individuals with warrants?

KRAMER: I would say its definitely a safe environment to get yourself surrendered and to move on from your case, recognizing that, you know, things come up, people are…fall ill or financial troubles or something’s come up and I know with a lot of people its not an intentional um…although they may be missing a court date, its not always necessarily intentional um…and family may come first and they may need to go. We just had a…a gentleman who had a death in the family and…and he just had to go.

SIPES: Right.

KRAMER: Um…so its…it can be a family, you know, matter, but um…you need to make your…your court dates a priority um…and this is a good way to safely get your case resolved.

SIPES: OK. Thank you. I appreciate it.

KRAMER: Thank you. Nice to meet you.