The arrest of a Morgan County mother and addiction recovery advocate on an 11-year-old misdemeanor warrant has prompted discussions about the possible need for statutes of limitations on some warrants.
Clarissa Curbow, 32, was arrested by Somerville Police in February at her home and in front of her young daughter on a warrant from 2013.
Somerville Mayor Darren Tucker told Alabama Daily News the town’s police were following the law and tidying up old paperwork, including Curbow’s warrant. But he agrees the arrest wasn’t necessary.
It stemmed from a verbal altercation Curbow and a friend had in a Dollar Store parking lot. At the time, Curbow was addicted to drugs. The Decatur Daily reported extensively about Curbow’s arrest, her years of addiction and her path to recovery.
Neither Curbow or her friend who filed the complaint remembered the incident or the warrant, the Daily reported. The two reconciled when Curbow got sober.
Tucker this spring sent Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, a letter suggesting legislation implementing statutes of limitation on misdemeanor warrants. Tucker called Curbow’s arrest “unnecessary and punitive.”
“The current situation underscores a significant issue within our legal framework,” Tucker wrote. “Alabama has no statute of limitations for warrants. This absence means that individuals can be arrested for minor infractions many years after the fact, regardless of the current circumstances or the reconciliation between the involved parties. In Ms. Curbow’s case, the activation of an 11-year-old warrant seems both excessive and unjust.”
Orr said he’s asked the Legislative Services Agency, the Legislature’s bill-drafting office, to research limitations in other states.
“I want to see how other states have approached the issue,” Orr said. “And if they’ve done nothing, we still need to craft, in conversations with law enforcement and prosecutors, what makes sense for Alabama. But I’m committed to looking into it and coming up with a proposal.”
Part of the discussion might be on whether Class B and C misdemeanor warrants have an expiration date, but more serious Class A charges do not.
“Where do we draw the line, or do we draw it based on time?” Orr said about setting limitations relative to the class of offense.
Curbow said she believes some misdemeanor warrants shouldn’t have end dates, especially those that involve physical injuries to others. But she would like to see police departments have to act more quickly to serve warrants. She believes if Somerville Police processed her warrant promptly, it would have shown up years ago when she had other interactions with law enforcement.
Curbow credits jail ministry with saving her life and helping her get sober. She now volunteers with Kairos Prison Ministry. She celebrated seven years sober on May 25 and said God has now given her a unique opportunity to advocate for a change to help others.
She said for people battling addiction, an arrest like hers this year could be a major setback. She spent several hours in the Morgan County Jail before being released.
“That night when I was arrested and was sitting in that holding cell, I very heavily contemplated relapse,” Curbow told ADN.
“And had I not been as rooted in God as I am, I would have relapsed and probably it would have killed me.”
Curbow has two daughters, 12 and 4. The older girl was born during Curbow’s addiction and saw her mother’s arrest in February.
“It was a very traumatic night for her, because the last time she saw me going away in a cop car, I didn’t come back for a year,” Curbow said.
Curbow said she appreciates Tucker’s efforts after her arrest.
“He’s been very helpful in trying to aid in this process and he’s doing everything he can to make sure this doesn’t happen again in his town or anywhere else in Alabama.”
Curbow doesn’t remember the 2013 fight that led to the warrant, but she takes responsibility for it.
“Was I guilty of that harassment charge in 2013? Probably so. Do I remember the incident? Not at all. It was too many drugs ago.
“I was in addiction, so I know I was ratchet. So, yes, I deserved that warrant back then, yes. But did I deserve it now? No.”