Joe Brennan
There are plenty of people out there who get arrested for a very minor offense and who end up making the situation much worse for themselves by missing their court date. Missing your court date is an offense in and of itself. If you want to make certain you don’t end up making a minor offense much worse than it has to be, you should always make your court date.
What Happens if You Don’t?
One of the ways that people get themselves into trouble is not realizing exactly what happens if they do miss their court date. Not showing up for a court date is no minor thing. There are good reasons why the courts take this so seriously. Aside from the fact that you’re breaking the law, it costs a great deal of money to operate a court of law and, when people don’t show up, not only has the law been broken, but a lot of very expensive people have had their time wasted.
When you don’t make your court date, the judge will generally immediately issue a warrant for your arrest. If you had the opportunity to get out of jail before your court date on bail before, you can be certain that you’re not going to get that chance again. If the offense is minor, they may release you on your own recognizance, but that generally will not be the case if you’re looking at something rather serious.
If a bail bondsman provided your bail, not showing up to court puts them in a very bad situation. The bail bond that they issue is contingent upon you showing up in court. If you don’t show up, the bail bonds company becomes liable for the entire sum of your bail, which could be thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.
If you have a court date, even for something as minor as traffic tickets, make sure you get there on time. It’s a good idea to show up an hour early. Some people show up to court too close to the time when they are supposed to appear before the judge, end up getting delayed and quickly find out that, when you’re not there on time, judges are generally not inclined to take excuses off of you and will throw you in jail.
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