What Happens If Miss My Court?

 Posted on July 23, 2020 in Criminal Defense

So unfortunately missing court is one of the worst things you can do in your case. It's not like missing a dentist's appointment that you can simply reschedule. If the judge calls your name in the morning and you're not there -- two things are going to happen. The first thing is that you're going to get a warrant for failing to appear in the original case. The second thing that's going to happen is you're going to become subject to an additional charge under the Texas Penal Code for bail forfeiture and failure to appear. So unfortunately, if you missed court you have now compounded your problems.

What are the punishments for missing my court date?

You'll pick up a warrant in your original case- if that case was a misdemeanor, you'll pick up an additional misdemeanor charge and if the case that you missed is a felony, you'll pick up an additional felony charge.

What should I do if I miss my court hearing?

So if you miss court, that warrant is gonna be what's called a "Bench Warrant," and it allows any law-enforcement officer to pick you up during a traffic violation, pick you up at home, pick you up at work. So if you have a bench warrant issued on your behalf what you should do is immediately contact an attorney. We can go to the judge on your behalf, try to explain the circumstances surrounding your failure to appear in court, try to get the bail reinstated, try to get another bond set, try to do anything to keep you out of having to actually go to jail.

What is the best way to not miss my court date?

So the easiest way to not miss court -- get an attorney involved early. That way they receive notices as well about your initial court date. We have a system in place where we text all our clients prior to their first court date. That way everybody is on the same page; that way nobody misses court and nobody gets warrants issued against them.