How bad is missing a court date?

[Nikos95]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Worse case you have a suspension and a warrant...

Best case they tacked a late fee to your fine and it just means you plead guilty.

There is a number of things they can do, call the clerk and tell them you missed your court date. Then they will tell you what the judge had ordered. Then deal with it from there, if its bail on a warrant you can pay that then see the judge pay your fine and walk too.

[pumpkinking13x]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Basically, if you don't show up for court a warrent is issued for your arrest. Drive down tomorrow morning first thing (8 AM) explain what happened, get a new court date, maybe pay a fine, maybe get a suspension. Yeah.. hopefully you have a laid back judge, it's really up to them and local laws.:slap:

[kala]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

You can get a warrant for your arrest for anything, even small little things...

I would trust him , he knows his stuff.



:)

[Abaddon]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

haha, you arent going to jail. sorry. there MIGHT possibly be a warrant out... but just schedule another date and you should be fine. and if it comes down to it, jail isnt THAT bad.

Easy for you to say. You aren't the one that missed your court date. :)

[hockeyman]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

I don't know Maryland's Laws. I DO know that here in the City of Phila, there would not be any arrest warrant issued, just a suspension of your license. And that usually takes up to 3 months to get processed.
Maryland handles their regulations much different though.

BTW, what state did you get your citation in? My guess would be NJ! They LOVE giving tickets to anyone who travels at least 2-5 mph over the speed limit!

[blown00]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Hm. Was is mandatory? When I got my speeding ticket, for 15 over on the freeway, I had the option to go to court. I could go to court and go through all that jazz, or just pay the ticket and accept the points.

This may be your situation?

[kala]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

........... ......... and if it comes down to it, jail isnt THAT bad.

Umm, yeah it sure isn't!




:)

[Abaddon]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

In TN, they now give you three options:

1) Go to court and fight the ticket
2) Plead guilty and mail in the fine
3) Plead guilty and request traffic school. If you haven't been to traffic school for over a year, you are eligible for it. They make $150 this way instead of the simple $50 ticket (and the hit to your insurance). Most people choose #3.

I've been to traffic school about 5 times. The guy who used to run the class knew me by name. :)

What's even better is in Georgia, they used to take your license and you drove on the ticket. They'd staple your license to the original copy of the ticket and you didn't get your license back until you went to court. You could tell how many tickets a guy had by looking at the holes in his license. Some people I knew (this one guy had a hot Camaro...we got pulled over doing over 110 MPH on a back road. Heh!) could have used his license as a spaghetti strainer!

[stevethepirate]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Easy for you to say. You aren't the one that missed your court date. :)

haha, have YOU ever been pulled out of your car, handcuffed, chained to a counter in a police station for a good two hours while they tried pulling out your facial piercings with PLIERS, and then handcuffed to a bench for a few hours?
didnt think so.

[Vanquish]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

I didn't even read all the posts, but if you missed a court date....then....

You have a warrant out for your arrest for contempt of court

Have fun with that
They go easier on you and usually lessen the amount needed if you turn yourself in

[CamaroDude]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

i got the ticket in virginia and, no, court was not mandatory

[Vanquish]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Did you pay the ticket before the court date?
I'm almost positive that any ticket you get, they set a court date for. That's usually where they decide how much you are going to have to pay, unless of course you pay it in advance.

[Abaddon]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

haha, have YOU ever been pulled out of your car, handcuffed, chained to a counter in a police station for a good two hours while they tried pulling out your facial piercings with PLIERS, and then handcuffed to a bench for a few hours?
didnt think so.

Not me. I've always shown up for court. I'm just telling the guy what happens if he DOES get pulled over after missing a court date. He WILL be arrested on the spot and taken to a local jail.

The other guy is right. If he paid the ticket, he also had to check a box on the back of the ticket and sign it, stating he admits guilt and pays the fine. That would negate the court date because he's already atoned for the ticket. That also means his insurance rate will probably go up some. If he simply missed the court date and didn't do anything with it, he'd better be on the phone this morning. Otherwise he's in danger of going to jail and having his car yanked onto a flatbed bound for the impound lot.

[CamaroDude]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Ok, well, I went to the court this morning and all that happened was that I was tried in my absence and found guilty. I paid the fine and now its over. It sucks that I didn't make it to the court on the right date because I probably would've been let off, but the outcome was stil much better than what a lot of you guys were trying to scare me with.

[rt1]

Re: How bad is missing a court date?

Well that's good. Glad it worked out. Did they start to suspend your license? Like HockeyMan said it takes up to 3 months to process, and that means it prolly takes as long to unprocess. Just keep any paperwork from the court in the car with you just in case you get pulled over again.

Rob