Why would the local pd not take him in?

[angela_j10x]

Caligirl.... I am in So Cal and My 30 yr old cousin moved down here 2 yrs ago from NorCal. He lives with our family. He had 2 duis up in NorCal. The first he completed everything required and got his restricted license. Just before moving down here he said he got another and they took his restricted license. He never spent any time in jail -just one night each time and was ror w/ probtn.
He did write the ct and tell them he moved down here so they have his address. He has been receiving blue post cards from the ct for at least 1.5 yrs now- saying a warrant is issued for him up there.
I asked what this was about?
He said he can only guess it is because he did not pay his fines.
Weird thing is he has been pulled over at least 5 -7 times down here for speeding / window tint and not making a full stop at stop sign. NEVER have they even mentioned to him he has a warrant.
Why are they not taking him in?

[retdetsgt]

The county who issued the warrant may not be willing to pay the money to extradite him back. Governments are pretty strapped for cash right now and bringing someone back just for not paying a fine may not be worth it to them. Just a guess.

[L-1]

What retdetsge said is fairly true for California

When a warrant comes up in the system in California, it is not unusual to see a comment that reads, "Will only travel X miles to pick up" or "Will only pick up in X, Y or Z counties". It just depends on the seriousness of the charge, the amount of bail, whether it is a misdemeanor or felony crime and how big the department is that holds the warrant.

I first started in law enforcement back in 1969 with a 13 officer department. Back then our policy was to travel one mile to pick someone up for every dollar of their bail amount. A $65 bail (our most common amount back then) meant we would go no more than 65 miles to pick them up. Today the same equivalent would be to travel one mile for every six dollars of their bail.

[marinepilot]

Moving this to Ask-A-Cop where I think it will feel more at home.