"I seen them take a whole bunch of plastic cuffs into one of the rooms," she said. "It's really scary."
After the initial queue of people who arrived early, things seemed to slow and the line vanished. Sheriff John Anderson said officials expect attendance to pick up as residents who attended go back to their neighborhoods.
"Those folks will say, 'Hey, this is for real,' " Anderson said.
Parrine and Shantel Butts, 35, had never met before Wednesday's event. But they were high-fiving and giggling as they rode the elevator to get their cases expunged. Parrine had three minor drug charges, and Butts had a theft charge dating back to 2001.
"I've got so many jobs on standby," Parrine said. "Only the warrant was holding me back."
Like Talbert and all others who went through the process, Parrine and Butts could have turned themselves in and cleared the warrants long ago. Butts claimed the charge was bogus to begin with — "it's only because I got smart with police" — but she said Central Booking is a "process you do not want to go through." By the end of the day, the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website already reflected that her case was closed.
"You learn to deal with it. I kept telling myself I'll turn myself in," Butts said, saying the warrant prevented her from getting jobs or a driver's license. "Now I can do other things."
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