Since its launch in 2020, the St. Louis County Library's Tap In Center has worked to provide a safe space for people who need assistance resolving warrants that were issued due to a failure to appear in court.
“This can really happen to anybody,” said Miranda Gibson, the library’s justice services specialist. “People might not be able to get child care. They can't get off work. We have a lot of people who miss their court date because they didn't know that they had it. Over half of our clients cite insufficient notice as the reason why they missed that court date. Sometimes we'll see that the notice was returned undelivered, and that was the only way that the court could get a hold of them.”
The center has helped more than 3,300 people in recalling more than 5,000 warrants since it was launched in 2020. More than 80% of the center’s clients would otherwise not have access to an attorney, according to Gibson.
St. Louis County Library hosts weekly, in-person services at their Florissant Valley Branch and the main branch of the St. Louis Public Library in downtown St. Louis. They work in partnership with the Missouri State Public Defender’s Office, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office, the Bail Project, the MacArthur Foundation, the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office and 22nd Judicial Circuit Pretrial Services.
Jemia Steele, a public defender and co-founder of the Tap In Center, said the program has been embraced by judges, parole officers and clerks, who often refer people to the center.
“They want [these cases] to get resolved,” she said. “They are big proponents of it because it gets [cases] back on the docket … and off of their plate.”
Steele and Gibson said hosting the sessions at the library has been important to the program's success.
“We didn't want it to seem like a trap. We didn't want to have it in the court or the Justice Center or a traditional law enforcement center,” Gibson said. “We wanted it to be somewhere that people would be happy and feel welcome going to.”
The Tap In Center serves clients in six municipalities across the region, including Florissant, Kirkwood, Manchester, University City, Webster Groves and St. Louis. Gibson said she hopes they will expand the program to serve people in more municipalities in the future.
“The municipal court system can be very confusing,” she said. “There are dozens and dozens of municipal courts, and it's very complicated, especially if you have cases in multiple jurisdictions.”
To learn more about the Tap In Center, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: St. Louis County Tap In Center
When: 6-8 p.m. every Tuesday
Where: SLCL–Florissant Valley Branch, 195 S. New Florissant Road, Florissant, MO 63031-6796
What: City of St. Louis Tap In Center
When: 4-6 p.m. every Wednesday
Where: SLPL–Central Library, 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
