What can I do about the warrant?

Question

I have a warrant issued for failure to appear. I never got the summons. What is the next step?

James Schoenberger · Answer

Contact the court and set a quash hearing.

Ryan L. Russman · Answer

Call local counsel. They can contact the Court and have the warrant vacated and or arrange a time for you to turn yourself into authorities. You want to address this problem right away because the police can come an arrest you at any time.

Gregory Casale · Answer

If you are stopped by police while that warrant is open they will arrest you and bring you before a judge, at the next opportunity! That could mean a night, or even a weekend in jail, depending on when it happens. To avoid this you need to surrender yourself to the court and explain that you never received the summons. This will have a better impact and be better received from your attorney than by you alone. Depending charge and your previous history with the court, a judge could even hold you on bail for failing to appear originally. The more serious the charge, the more important it is to have an attorney. I don't recommend going to court without an attorney for any criminal charge and having an open warrant certainly doesn't weaken that advice. If you can't afford a lawyer, the court will appoint one for you if the charge carries the potential of jail time and you qualify financially. Of course it is better to hire our own attorney and walk into court together but you have to do what your finances allow.

Michael J. Breczinski · Answer

Get an attorney and go to the court house and take care of the warrant. Walking in voluntarily makes it easier on you thatn being picked up by the police.

Cindy L. Barton-Coombs · Answer

Call the Court Clerk where the warrant was issued and explain what happened and get a new court date. Don't miss it. Sometimes they can take off the warrant, sometimes not, but you still need to get into court. Good luck.

Salim A. Khayoumi · Answer

You would need to file a motion to quash the warrant and appear before the judge assigned to your case (the case for which you failed to appear). It's important to note that while a warrant is active/pending you can be arrested and booked.

James H. Dippery · Answer

Got to court and explain to the judge and ask for a Public Defender. If there is no next date set, then contact the court clerk and get them to set a date for you. Some courts have a 'walk-in' day you could take advantage of.

Stacey Selleck · Answer

You need to contact an attorney who can set up a time with the court to turn yourself in.  An attorney can tell you when a good time is to turn yourself in to the police so that you can attempt to avoid spending the night or excessive time in jail.  You should be prepared to post bond in order to get out of jail.  Then you need to discuss with your attorney the underlying charges that you "failed to appear" for on the first offense.

Ronnie Vargas · Answer

The next step is to have the warrant lifted. Depending on what kind of warrant you have determines whether you can simply make an appearance to have the warrant lifted or will they arrest you and process you before making the court appearance.

Jared Altman · Answer

Missed court: Contact your lawyer or if you don't have one, call the court clerk to see if it's been re-scheduled. If not, then ask that it be added to the next available calendar. If a warrant has been issued, then arrange to surrender yourself, preferably with a lawyer.

Steven D. Dunnings · Answer

Go to court in front of the Judge who issued the warrant. You might want to hire an attorney.

Craig Elhart · Answer

You will have to either turn yourself in or wait until you are arrested and answer the allegation before the court.  An attorney would be able to assist you through this process and you should consult with one immediately.

Daniel Kieth Martin · Answer

You should contact a criminal defense lawyer to discuss the best way to deal with the warrant. You did not receive a summons because summons are not issued in criminal matters. Whatever you do, make sure that you speak to a criminal defense lawyer before speak to police.

Stephen Freeborn · Answer

Contact the court where the warrant was issued.  Depending upon the charge and your criminal history, the court may simply quash the warrant and give you a new court date, or more likely require you to appear at a special warrant calendar to deal with the issue.

Dennis Roberts · Answer

Get a lawyer (or public defender) and get it put back on the calendar. You can do it yourself by going to the clerk and asking that it be added to calendar but you have a much better chance of not having bad things happen if a lawyer does it.

James Edward Smith · Answer

Get the case back on calendar to get rid of the warrant.  Hire a lawyer to file a motion to quash the warrant.

Craig Orent · Answer

If it is a misdemeanor, go to the Court clerk's office, tell them what happened, and you will go before a judge to have the warrant removed. If it's a felony, you could do the same thing, but because the charge is more serious there may be a little more risk that a bond might be set and you could be taken into custody. But without knowing more, I can't be more helpful. If you received a summons then chances are you will be ok if you self-report to the court (which is MUCH better than appearing upon an arrest on a warrant). The other option is to retain an attorney who will file a notice of appearance and ask that the warrant be vacated, which is usually granted. Again though, all of this depends on the particular circumstances of which I know nothing.

John DeVito · Answer

If you have a warrant it is advisable to hire an attorney to accompany you to Court to remove the default warrant.  One faces potentially serious bail consequences in such a situation; an attorney can mitigate that consequence as the Court will see you that you retained an attorney and intend to take the matter seriously. The attorney will be able to review the cause for the failure to receive the summons and may be able to argue that the complaint should never have issued and would not have issued if you had received proper notice.

John Bussman · Answer

Go to court.  The warrant will be recalled when you appear.

Michael Lynch · Answer

You have various options which  need to be explained.  Be prepared to provide all information at the  consultation.  Your attorney will want to know what charges the warrant  has been issued, if it has been for a misdemeanor or a felony, where you  live, where you have been living, and where you plan on living in the  near future.

Philip Hache · Answer

You will need to court to have the warrant recalled and quashed (and hopefully without an additional penalty).  Depending on the circumstances behind the failure to appear, an attorney may be able to handle this without you present. Regardless, I would recommend hiring an attorney to handle this to mitigate potential consequences of the FTA, as well as handling the underlying charges.

Michael Garber · Answer

Contact a lawyer to represent you or you can call the DA and explain your situation and make arrangements to appear in court to answer to the warrant.

Mark Bruce · Answer

Call the court and set up a date for the warrant recall.  When you go to court tell the judge you never received the arrest letter and were not apprised of the court date.  The warrant will likely be recalled.  Whether you are released on your own recognizance will rely on the nature of the charges.  Coming in under your own power (rather than having to be arrested) always helps if a judge is considering

Cynthia Henley · Answer

You will need to post a bond and then get a court date.

Mark R. Thiessen · Answer

Either call an attorney and maybe they can take care of the warrant for you, if it is a traffic ticket.  Or you need to call a bail bondsman, and pay out, then hire an attorney to represent you when you get out.

William Wood · Answer

You can file a motion to recall the warrant, explaining the  circumstances and requesting a new trial date.  You can also arrange to  turn yourself in.

Kevin Ellmann · Answer

Depending upon the type of case the warrant is for, I would suggest contacting an attorney who can hopefully arrange for a surrender on that warrant with a pre-arranged agreement to a Personal Recognizance (PR) Bond (which would avoid you having to go into custody on the case).  The attorney could then assist you with resolving the case itself.  Good luck!

Scott Little · Answer

You can hire counsel to file a Motion to have the warrant recalled and converted to a summons or you can go to the sherriff's office to have the warrant served.  Iff you do the latter as opposed to the former depending on the alleged crime you will arrested and held in custody unt you can be brought before the court on the issue of bond.

Harley Gutin · Answer

Retain an attorney. File a Motion to Recall warrant explaining notice was not received. Set a hearing. Go to the hearing. Judge will typically recall warrant.

Michael Morgan · Answer

You should contact the court and schedule a motion to quash the warrant.

Joseph Dane · Answer

You (or your attorney on your behalf) is going to have to appear in front of a judge to get the warrant recalled.  If this is based on a traffic citation, the "summons" was the citation the officer issued and you more than likely would not have gotten any other sort of notice.  Again - if this is based on a traffic citation, the DMV may have also suspended your license for the failure to appear.  If so, you're going to have to clear the FTA in order to get your license reinstated.  Because it's now gone beyond whatever the original problem was and has a failure to appear and warrant, it's time to sit down with a local criminal defense attorney to discuss your specifics in greater detail.

Lorenzo L. Angelino · Answer

Contact or go to the Court where you were supposed to appear, make sure they have the correct address for you and they will send a new court date.

Justin Summary · Answer

Pay the bond if one was set or contact an attorney to try and get the warrant lifted.

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What can I do about the warrant?

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