In 2022, Amber Kellen-Silvestri got caught stealing from a Walmart in Aurora.
She says she stole expensive meat, makeup and a few other things, all things she felt she couldn’t afford at the time. The items cost about $100. Walmart decided to press charges. The citation, which she pleaded guilty to in February 2025, has followed her since.
“What I was supposed to do was these classes and stuff like that. At that time, I was in between places, and I just didn't concentrate. And it's a stupid little thing. I should have done it,” she said.
After missing a court hearing, the court put out a warrant for her arrest.
On a recent weekday, at the municipal court event in Aurora, Kellen-Silvestri, 45, was finally able to do something about the warrant looming over her head.
At the “Fresh Start Week,” the Aurora Municipal Court set aside four days to clear people’s warrants for certain low-level, nonviolent offenses. It’s a program Colorado counties do regularly, where people with outstanding warrants for specific misdemeanors or traffic offenses can go to the courthouse and get their warrant cleared without the fear of being arrested.
“I have to take responsibility for my failure to appear,” she said. “It's been a long haul, but it's good that they offer this program.”
Kellen-Silvestri violated her sentence when she failed to take a theft class and pay a fine by May 2025.
She should’ve received a notification to the address on file with a court date, said Anne Moorhead, an attorney who partners with the Aurora Public Defender’s Office, but Kellen-Silvestri said she had already moved.
Moorhead said that’s not unheard of because many people they defend are transient — either unhoused or frequently moving.
After not showing up for her hearing, a warrant for Kellen-Silvestri’s arrest was issued in July. This summer, while in between housing and staying at a hotel, she said police came with a warrant for her arrest, calling her “a fugitive.”
“I was caught so off guard,” she said. “There was a failure to appear. That was why I got arrested.”
‘Fresh Start’
In the courtroom during Fresh Start Week, a queue quickly started for people interested in getting their warrants cleared. There was also an option for people to join the court remotely by going to the Aurora Mental Health and Recovery Center.
The benches in the room stayed full with people observing others’ cases until theirs was called. Some cases required the use of a Spanish interpreter, who was on-site.
Only certain offenses were eligible to have warrants cleared, things like trespass, theft, obstruction, injury to property, disorderly conduct, fighting and some others. More serious offenses — like domestic violence, assault, battery, reckless endangerment, among other things — were not included.
“Most of the individuals that are coming and going from our court are individuals who are charged with really low-level, nonviolent offenses — traffic, zoning, animal kinds of cases,” said Elizabeth Cadiz, the chief public defender for the city of Aurora.
This type of event not only helps people like Kellen-Silvestri but also reduces costs across the system, Cadiz. Various district and county courts across Colorado have held clearance days over the years. Cadiz said this is the first time the Aurora city court has held a warrant clearance event on this scale.
“Fewer warrants mean fewer arrests on warrants, and arrests cost money,” Cadiz said. “It costs money and time for a police officer to stop what they're doing when they're out on the street to arrest a person on a warrant and then book them in our detention center. That's hours they’re away from policing, at least in the case of municipal warrant arrests — more serious crimes in terms of the court system.”
Cadiz and the staff helping run the clearance event want to debunk the conception that events like these prevent accountability.
“What's important to remember is the case is still pending. It's not thrown out; they're not absolved of the charges against them. But they still have a right to due process, and they still have a right to go forward with their case and be heard,” Moorhead said. “It's just an opportunity to make sure that they can do that without the fear of having to do it from jail or having to lose money to post a bond in order to get out and fight the case from the street.”
Sometimes, it's negligence or a lack of preparation, but life circumstances also get in the way of them making it to court, said Fatima Thibou, an administrative supervisor for the Aurora Public Defender’s Office.
One woman who attended and had a warrant for her arrest said she missed court after a family member passed away on the same day as her hearing.
“For her to be able to come back and get her slate wiped clean and another opportunity to show back up and answer for whatever the summons is was just an opportunity for her to get back on track,” Thibou said.
After four days of the event, Cadiz said 73 warrants were canceled for 56 people. Three people accepted a plea bargain while in court, she said.
“My clients do not have the funds to afford counsel, and so we represent them here in my office. Many of them end up with warrants on their cases simply because they cannot get to court when they're supposed to,” Cadiz said.
Kellen-Silvestri now needs to take the theft class within the next two months. If she does that, there’s a chance they’ll dismiss the violation, and then she will just pay the $200 fine.
“I'm going to do that class,” she said. “I'm a single mom and going through divorce; I don't need that on my record.”
Warrants and arrests really impact people trying to get back on their feet, said Moorhead.
“If you're taken into custody and you don't have the money to post a bond, people lose jobs,” Moorhead said. “Considering the state of the world right now — with the economy and benefits not being fulfilled and childcare being inaccessible and healthcare being inaccessible — it's very disruptive.”
While there isn’t another municipal warrant cancellation event in the works yet, Cadiz hopes Aurora can partner with the Judicial Districts that hold warrant clearance events more frequently.
