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ST. PETERSBURG — Pinellas County already has family courts, civil courts, criminal courts and a drug court.
Beginning Saturday, it also will have a Homeless Court.
In this new program, two Pinellas County judges will try to come to the homeless, instead of waiting for the homeless to come to them. The judges will be available to help resolve minor cases that often become big problems for homeless people, leading them to stay in jail for petty crimes.
"I'm very excited. I can't wait to be there," said Judge Lorraine Kelly, who credited fellow Judge James Pierce with spearheading the idea. "I hope it brings more attention to the plight of the homeless."
St. Petersburg has a history with the homeless — police slashing tents in a "tent city," complaints about vagrants sleeping and urinating in people's yards, and tough talk about the issue in the mayor's race.
The once-a-month court program will help homeless people clear up minor legal troubles, but it will also provide "an opportunity for them to access community services and resources that could, perhaps, help them to be in a better position socially, economically, medically," Kelly said.
Because homeless people can be hard to track down, they sometimes miss their court appointments, which leads to warrants for their arrest and imprisonment over minor offenses.
The first Pinellas Homeless Court will be Saturday at the Coliseum in St. Petersburg, in conjunction with an expo of services for the homeless called "Homeless Connect." The next one will be Feb. 27 at the Salvation Army Red Shield Lodge, also in St. Petersburg.
Here's how it will work:
Homeless people, or even those who are not homeless, can come to the Homeless Court location, where prosecutors, public defenders and volunteer attorneys will be present.
If people have minor misdemeanor offenses or city ordinance violations, Judges Kelly and Pierce will try to dispose of the cases in a sensible way. For example, a fine might normally be imposed, but it might make more sense for a homeless person to work off the fee by doing community service. This would help homeless people clear up their cases and could prevent them from getting arrested on outstanding warrants for minor charges.
The judges said in a news release that they will seek to make their sentences "non-punitive" when possible.
But that doesn't mean every defendant will get the result he or she is looking for. Anyone who shows up with outstanding felony warrants will probably be arrested. And some misdemeanor charges, especially those involving a victim — such as misdemeanor battery cases or criminal mischief — won't qualify.
Homeless defendants won't necessarily get lighter sentences than other offenders, but they might get referrals to programs designed to help them with ongoing issues, such as disability payments or substance abuse problems, Kelly said.
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