Failure to Appear: What is the law, what are the legal consequences, how can I check if I have an outstanding warrant, and what should I do?
A common scenario is that a person will receive a citation for a minor traffic violation and completely forgets to take care of the ticket for one reason or another. This un-resolved traffic ticket remains forgotten until one day they are pulled over for some other traffic violation in the same area and are blindsided by being arrested and taken to jail on a warrant for this long-forgotten ticket. This arrest can occur years after receiving the original ticket because there is no statute of limitations on Failure to Appear.
What is the law for a Failure to Appear in Texas?
In Texas, you can be charged with Failure to Appear if you have been given a traffic ticket and you do not show up to Court on the required date. In this case, the Failure to Appear Citation is a Class C Misdemeanor that is punishable by up to a $500 fine. Additionally, after charging you with Failure to Appear, the presiding judge can issue a warrant for your arrest.
What are the legal consequences?
The citation for Failure to Appear is only punishable by up to a $500 fine. However, there are other issues that might apply to you if you have been arrested for this offense. The most significant problem you face is that you have been arrested and are now in jail. A Judge will eventually set your bond but, depending on the time of day you are arrested; you might have to stay in jail overnight before this occurs. Another problem is that you might have to pay for several different traffic tickets. Not only do you have to resolve the fines and court costs associated with the citation for Failure to Appear, you might also have to resolve the original traffic ticket and take care of any new tickets. Next, if you have an outstanding warrant for Failure to Appear, you are ineligible to hold a valid Texas Driver’s License. This means that you could be subject to a charge for Driving With License Invalid each time you are pulled over for some other violation. This is not an exhaustive list of problems associated with a citation for Failure to Appear but is intended to point out some issues that arise in addition to the fine.
How can I check if I have an outstanding warrant in Texas?
There is one FREE way for you to check if you have any outstanding warrants for Failure to Appear. If you visit the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website, you can enter your personal information to check if you have any outstanding traffic-related warrants. You can check to see if you have any outstanding traffic warrants by following this link: https://www.texasfailuretoappear.com/search.php. Please note that this only works if you have a valid Texas Driver’s License.
There is another FREE way for you to check if you have any outstanding warrants or traffic violations that you need to address. If you visit the Texas Department of Public Safety website, you can enter your personal information to check if you are eligible to hold a Texas Driver’s License. Most often, if you have an outstanding warrant for Failure to Appear, you will not be eligible to hold a Texas Driver’s License. You can check your eligibility by following this link: https://txapps.texas.gov/txapp/txdps/dleligibility/login.do.
What should I do if I have a Failure to Appear charge or warrant in Texas?
While the above websites are useful for you to check and see if you have any outstanding warrants for failure to appear, there is usually much more to the process that you must accomplish to resolve the warrant once and for all. This is why you need a licensed professional attorney to guide you through the process and save you time and money. Please contact Carter Criminal Defense for a FREE consultation to see what options are best for you.