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What To Do If You Miss Your Court Date

Missed Court Date

Don’t miss your court date. Here’s how to keep the court from issuing a warrant for your arrest because of a missed court date.

What To Do If You Miss Your Court Date

In the past, most courts would immediately issue a warrant for your arrest if you miss your court date.

Some courts now grant a continuance after a missed court date and send a letter to the defendant notifying them of their new court date. (You should not count on all courts doing this.)

If you can’t make it to your court date, call the court clerk to ask what their policy is so you will know whether they are going to issue an arrest warrant if you miss your court date.

You may be able to request a continuance over the phone, without having to appear in court to ask the judge for the continuance.

What Is A Continuance Of A Court Date?

A “Continuance” of your court date means the court has postponed your court date until the next time the municipality or county holds court.

The continuance may be granted by the judge in the courtroom, or sometimes the court clerk can grant a continuance over the phone prior to the court date.

FOR EXAMPLE:  If your court date is June 1st and you get a continuance, your new court date will be approximately 30 days later. The court clerk will tell you the new court date and you will be expected to appear in court on that date, unless you have hired an attorney to represent you.

Call The Court Clerk And Ask For A Continuance Of Your Court Date

Some courts allow the court clerk to grant a continuance to a defendant over the phone if it’s the first court date for this particular case.

Unfortunately, many courts have a policy of not granting continuances unless the defendant personally comes to court and asks the judge for a continuance of their court date.

You can call the court clerk and they will tell you what their policy is regarding continuances.

Go To Court And Ask The Judge For A Continuance Of Your Court Date

If you have already called the court clerk to request a continuance of your court date but they refused to grant it, your only other options are:

  • Go to court and ask the judge for a continuance, or
  • Hire an attorney to get a continuance and represent you for the underlying charges

If you go to court, the judge will tell you that you have the following options:

  • Plead guilty,
  • Plead not guilty, or
  • Request a continuance of your court date

If you ask the judge for a continuance of your court date so you will have more time to hire an attorney, the judge will give you a continuance, no questions asked. Judges want a defendant to have an attorney representing them if that’s what the defendant wants.

The continuance gives you time to consult with an attorney before the next court date and decide what you want to do. You can either hire an attorney to represent you or you can represent yourself.

Don’t Send Someone Else To Court To Ask The Judge For A Continuance

Some judges may be sympathetic if you miss a court date because you have to work or can’t find a babysitter. But in general, only the defendant or their attorney can appear in court and request a continuance of a defendant’s court date.

What To Do If You Are Afraid To Appear In Court Because Of Warrants

You could be arrested when you go to court if you have an active warrant issued by a different municipality for a separate issue. After being arrested, you will sit in jail in county/municipality #1 until the police from county/municipality #2 come and pick you up on the warrant and take you to their jail.

If you are afraid to show up for court because you have a warrant and don’t want to be arrested when you go to court, here are some options:

  • Turn yourself in to police and pay the bond. If you have no other warrants, the police will release you and give you a new court date. The bond is refundable if you don’t miss your court date.

Or

  • Hire an attorney to lift the warrant and represent you for the underlying charges.

If you hire an attorney, you won’t have to turn yourself in to police or pay the bond. It’s very likely that you won’t have to appear in court at all if your case is just a traffic violation or a minor misdemeanor.

Hire An Attorney To Get A Continuance Of Your Court Date

If you have an upcoming court date and you can’t make it to court on that date, you can hire an attorney to handle the case for you.

Your attorney can request a continuance of your court date and represent you for the underlying charges. For a traffic ticket or other minor criminal offense, the most likely outcome is that the charge will be dismissed or reduced to a less serious offense.

FOR EXAMPLE:  If you want to fight a Missouri speeding ticket, an experienced attorney can get the ticket reduced to a non-moving, no-point violation such as “Illegal Parking.” If your ticket is reduced to “Illegal Parking,” no points will be added to your driving record and your car insurance rates won’t increase.

For misdemeanors like leaving the scene of an accident, shoplifting, or marijuana possession, your attorney may be able to get those charges dismissed or reduced to “Littering,” which will not show up on most standard criminal background checks.

Most criminal defense attorneys offer a free consultation and can give you a flat-fee price quote for how much they will charge to represent you, as well as an estimate of the outcome of your case.

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For a free consultation about your case, contact St. Louis attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or [email protected]

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What To Do If You Receive a Summons From Criminal Court

When you receive a summons from a criminal court, it means you have been charged with a criminal offense and you must appear in court on your court date to respond to the charge.

What Happens If You Don’t Respond To A Summons?

After receiving a summons to appear in criminal court, you must go to court on your court date, or else the court will issue a warrant for your arrest.

What If You Did Not Receive The Summons From The Court?

Sometimes the court mails a summons to a defendant but the defendant does not receive it because the court has an incorrect mailing address on file for the defendant, or otherwise sent it to the wrong address.

The court is required to mail the summons to the defendant to notify them of the court date, but the court has no responsibility to make sure the defendant actually received the summons.

So, if the court sends a summons to you at the wrong address and you don’t receive the summons, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest.

What To Do If You Missed Your Court Date

If you have a warrant because you did not receive the summons from the court and missed your court date, your attorney can lift the warrant for you. Your attorney will make sure the warrant is cancelled and a new court date is scheduled.

Hiring an attorney to lift your warrant allows you to avoid turning yourself in to police, paying the bond, and appearing in court.

How To Respond To A Summons

If you have received a summons to appear in criminal court in Missouri, you can do one of the following:

  • Go to court on your court date and plead guilty
  • Go to court on your court date and plead not guilty
  • Go to court on your court date and ask the judge for a continuance to give you more time to hire an attorney to represent you
  • Hire an attorney to represent you in court so you don’t have to appear in court

If you plead guilty to a criminal offense, you will be ordered to pay fines and court costs, and you will end up with a conviction on your criminal record.

If you plead guilty to speeding tickets or other moving violations, you will have to pay fines and court costs, points will be added to your driving record, and your car insurance rates will probably increase.

The added points may cause your driver’s license to be suspended or revoked if you accumulate:

  • 8 points within 18 months
  • 12 points within 12 months
  • 18 points within 24 months
  • 24 points within 36 months

If you plead not guilty, the judge will schedule your case for trial and you will have to decide whether to represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you at trial.

An Attorney Can Help If You Received a Summons To Appear In Court

You can hire an attorney to respond to your summons and represent you in court for your criminal case.

Your attorney can represent you at trial or negotiate a pre-trial plea bargain deal with the court on your behalf, and you may not have to appear in court at all.

An experienced attorney can get your criminal charge dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense. The outcome of your case depends on the following:

  • How old are you?
  • How serious was the criminal charge?
  • Which court is your case being prosecuted in?
  • Do you have any prior convictions on your criminal record? 

If you have received a summons to appear in a Missouri court for a speeding ticket or other criminal charge, call criminal defense attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 for a free consultation and a price quote for legal representation. Or email Andrea at [email protected]

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Get Warrants Lifted at 2016 St. Louis Warrant Amnesty Event

Get your warrant cancelled for $10 at the 2016 St. Louis warrant amnesty event on August 6, 11 & 13, 2016 at St. Louis Community College.

How Much Does it Cost to Get a Warrant Lifted at the Warrant Amnesty Event?

For a $10 fee, people with outstanding warrants for old traffic tickets, misdemeanors, and child support cases can get their warrants lifted and obtain a new court date.

When is the 2016 St. Louis Amnesty Event?

The warrant amnesty program is sponsored by St. Louis Community College and Better Family Life. The warrant amnesty event will take place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the following dates:

St. Louis Community College – Meramec Campus – Saturday, August 6, 2016

St. Louis Community College – Florissant Valley Campus – Thursday, August 11, 2016

St. Louis Community College – Forest Park Campus – Saturday, August 13, 2016

Warrant Amnesty Lifts Your Warrant But Does Not Dismiss the Charges

The warrant amnesty program does not dismiss your tickets, misdemeanor charges, or child support cases, but it does allow you to get your warrant cancelled and obtain a new court date. At that point, you can either hire an attorney to represent you in court or go to court on your own and represent yourself.

If you were making payments on outstanding ticket fines and missed a payment, resulting in a warrant being issued, this warrant amnesty program will allow you to pay $10 to get your warrant lifted. Then you can go to court and ask the judge to put your case back on the payment docket so you can continue to make payments for the unpaid fines.

Not All St. Louis Courts Are Participating in the 2016 Warrant Amnesty

Before attending the warrant amnesty event, you should call the court that issued your warrant to confirm that they are participating in the warrant amnesty, since not all courts in the St. Louis area are taking part in this amnesty event.

Click here to read a recent news article about the St. Louis warrant amnesty program.

For more information about the 2016 St. Louis Warrant Amnesty Program, you can contact Better Family Life (314) 367-3440.

If you have a warrant in a Missouri court that is not participating in the 2016 St. Louis warrant amnesty event, you can call St. Louis attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 for a price quote to get your warrant lifted and get legal representation for your case. Or email her at [email protected]

 

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St. Louis City Refunds Warrant Cancellation Fees

Thousands of people will get refunds for warrant recall fees they paid to St. Louis City Municipal Court.

Since 2009, St. Louis City Municipal Court has charged defendants a fee to lift their warrants and give them a new court date. As the result of a class action lawsuit, the City must refund a total of $750,000 to 21,000 defendants who paid these warrant cancellation fees.

Warrant recall fees ranged from $35 to $45, depending on how old the warrant was.

As a result of the lawsuit, St. Louis City Municipal Court will no longer be allowed to charge warrant recall fees.

Click here to read the KMOV Ch. 4 news article for more information about the St. Louis refund of warrant cancellation fees.

If you need legal representation for a Missouri speeding ticket, warrant, or criminal charge, call St. Louis traffic & criminal defense attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected].

 

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Get Warrants Lifted During St. Louis Amnesty Week

Get all of your warrants lifted for $35 during St. Louis City Municipal Court’s Warrant Amnesty Week, September 22 – 26, 2014 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This warrant forgiveness event will offer defendants a one-time chance to get all of their St. Louis City Municipal Court warrants cancelled at one time.

Throughout this week, the total fee to get your warrants lifted is $35, no matter how many warrants you have, and no matter how old the warrants are.

St. Louis City’s warrant amnesty program does not apply to cases involving charges of DUI/DWI or “leaving the scene of an accident.”

To get your warrants lifted, go to the St. Louis City Municipal Court at 1520 Market Street in downtown St. Louis and enter through the 16th Street entrance. Once you pay the $35 fee, all of your St. Louis City Municipal Court warrants will be cancelled and you will be given a new court date. By the time that court date rolls around, you must do one of the following:

1) plead guilty and pay your fines, or

2) appear in court if you plan to represent yourself, or

3) hire an attorney to get your charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense

To find out if you have a warrant in St. Louis City Municipal Court, call St. Louis City Municipal Court at (314) 622-3231 or go to the court clerk’s office in person to ask if you have a warrant. (You will not be arrested.)

If you need legal help for arrest warrants, traffic tickets, or other criminal charges, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 to get a price quote for legal representation. Or email Andrea at [email protected]

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Clayton Municipal Court Offers Amnesty for Warrants

Clayton Municipal Court in Clayton, Missouri will hold an Amnesty Day on October 6, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This means anyone with warrants issued by Clayton Municipal Court can go to court on October 6th and meet with the prosecuting attorney to resolve their court cases.

Any type of case qualifies for amnesty on October 6, 2014 — it’s not limited to just traffic ticket cases.

You will not be arrested if you go to Clayton Municipal Court on October 6, 2014 for Amnesty Day.

The court recommends that you bring money so you can make a payment or post bond, but it does not specify the amount.

Call the Clayton Municipal Court for more information about amnesty or to ask if you have a warrant.

If you need legal help for arrest warrants, traffic tickets, or other criminal charges, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 to get a price quote for legal representation. Or email Andrea at info@leadfootspeedingticket.com or [email protected]

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Warrant Amnesty in St. Louis

It’s time again for Warrant Amnesty Days in St. Louis, Missouri on August 2, 6, & 9, 2014.

If you have a warrant for a traffic ticket or other misdemeanor in a municipal court in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, or St. Charles County, you may be able to get your warrant lifted for a small fee during Warrant Amnesty Days in St. Louis.

To get your warrant lifted during Amnesty Days, here’s what you must do:

    • Attend an Amnesty Day event and purchase a $10 voucher for each outstanding warrant that has been issued against you.
    • You must attend a brief seminar while you are at the Amnesty Day event.
    • Take your voucher & $100 (to pay your bond) to the court that issued the warrant against you, and the court will lift your warrant and give you a new court date.

After you get a court date, your options are as follows:

    • Plead guilty and pay the fines and court costs that you owe to the court.
    • Go to court and plead not guilty, at which point the judge will set a trial date for your case.
    • Hire an attorney to represent you in court to get your traffic ticket or misdemeanor charge dismissed or reduced to a lesser offense.

Where Is Warrant Amnesty Day Held?

Warrant Amnesty Days are being held at St. Louis Community College at the Meramec location on August 2, Florissant Valley location on August 6, and at the Forest Park location on August 9, 2014 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Which Courts Are Participating in the 2014 St. Louis Amnesty Days?

65 municipal and county courts in the St. Louis & St. Charles area will participate in the 2014 Warrant Amnesty Days. Click here to see which courts are participating in the Warrant Amnesty Days.

Before purchasing the $10 voucher to lift your warrant, you should check this list of participating courts or contact the court that issued the warrant against you to find out if that court is participating in the Amnesty program.

Who is Sponsoring the 2014 Warrant Amnesty Days?

The 2014 St. Louis Warrant Amnesty event is sponsored by St. Louis Community College and Better Family Life, Inc.

For more information and to find out which St. Louis area courts are participating in the Warrant Amnesty, click here to read a recent Fox 2 news article about St. Louis 2014 Warrant Amnesty Day or call Better Family Life at (314) 381-8200.

An Attorney Can Lift Your Warrant & You Won’t Have to Attend Amnesty Day

In many cases, you can hire an attorney to lift your warrant for you, and you won’t have to attend Amnesty Day or appear in court. If you have already appeared in court on your own to plead guilty (or you had a lawyer appear in court for you), and then you failed to pay the fine, many courts will not lift the warrant. In that situation, the court will require you to turn yourself in and pay the bond before they will lift your warrant.

To hire a lawyer to lift your warrant, call St. Louis criminal defense attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected] or at [email protected] for a price quote to lift your warrant.

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Warrants Never Expire

There is no expiration date for warrants. No matter how old your warrant is, you will eventually have to get it lifted, or risk being picked up by the police and taken to jail.

You can hire an attorney to lift the warrant for you, or you can turn yourself in to the police and pay the bond. The cost of hiring an attorney to lift the warrant is usually much cheaper than the amount of the bond.

Why Was a Warrant Issued Against You?

Missouri courts issue arrest warrants for many reasons, but here are a few of the most common ones:

  • you failed to pay the fine for a speeding ticket or other criminal offense
  • you failed to pay child support payments
  • you were on a payment plan with the court and you missed a payment
  • you failed to appear in court for your court date
  • you caused a car accident and didn’t pay for the damages to the other driver’s car

In addition to issuing a warrant, courts can also suspend your driver’s license for any of the offenses listed above.

To make matters worse, warrants sometimes show up on criminal background checks.

How to Find Out If You Have a Warrant in Missouri

You can hire a lawyer to find out if you have any warrants. You can also check online on casenet, or call the court and ask the court clerk if they have issued a warrant for your arrest.

When Will the Court Issue a Warrant?

Courts can issue a warrant immediately after the first missed court date or missed payment.

Most courts will not warn you before issuing a warrant.

Many courts will issue a Failure to Appear (FTA) charge after you miss your first court date, but they will wait until after your second missed court date before they issue a warrant and set the bond amount.

What is Bond?

The bond is the amount of money you must pay to the court to get your warrant cancelled and obtain a new court date. Bond amounts can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the nature of the charges against you.

How to Avoid Paying the Bond After a Warrant is Issued

In many cases, an attorney can get your warrant cancelled (“lifted”), obtain a new court date for you, and negotiate a plea bargain to have your traffic violation or criminal charge reduced to a lesser offense. You won’t have to pay the bond amount to the court, but you will have to pay the fine and court costs, as well as any other fees, such as a warrant fee or FTA fee.

Some courts won’t cancel a warrant even if an attorney requests it. In those courts, your only option is to turn yourself in at the police department, where you will be booked. Then you will pay the bond to cancel the warrant and get a new court date. At that point, you can hire an attorney to represent you, or you can appear in court on your own. The bond will be applied to the amount of the fine and court costs that you owe to the court.

What to do if You Have Multiple Warrants

If you have warrants in several different courts and you are taken to jail for one of those warrants, as soon as you pay your bond in the first court, you will be sent to jail in the next court where you have a warrant. This process will be repeated in each court that has issued a warrant against you.

You will have to pay a separate bond in each municipality where you have a warrant. If you act quickly, an attorney may be able to get your warrants cancelled and prevent you from being transferred to the next jail.

Call St. Louis traffic lawyer Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 for a price quote to lift a warrant, or to get your unpaid speeding tickets reduced to non-moving, no-point violations. You can email Andrea at [email protected] or click on the email icon at the top of the page to send Andrea an email.
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Get St. Louis City Warrants Lifted Without Hiring a Lawyer

For $35, you can get your warrant lifted in St. Louis City Municipal Court without hiring an attorney.

Just go to the court clerk’s office and ask them to look up your outstanding warrants. The fee is $35 to lift your first warrant, plus $10 for each additional warrant. The fee is $45 for any warrant that is more than 30 days old.

The Court’s address is:

St. Louis City Municipal Court
1520 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103

After you pay the warrant cancellation fee, the court clerk will give you a new court date for each case. By the next court date, you must either 1) appear in court to represent yourself, 2) hire an attorney to represent you, or 3) mail your payment to the Court for your fines and court costs.

You will not be arrested if you go to the court clerk’s office to get your warrants lifted, even if you have warrants in other municipalities.

The Court accepts payment in the form of cash, personal checks with identification, debit or credit card.

If you would like to hire an attorney to lift your warrants, call St. Louis traffic law attorney Andrea Storey Rogers at (314) 724-5059 or email her at [email protected]. Prices start at $75 to lift a warrant.

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Amnesty for Child Support Warrants

If you have a warrant for unpaid child support in St. Louis, you may be able to get your warrant lifted for a small fee at the upcoming Child Support Warrant Relief program on August 17, August 21, and August 31, 2013.

You must appear in person at the Better Family Life Cultural Business and Education Center in St. Louis and pay $10 for a voucher for each outstanding warrant. Then you take the voucher to the court and pay $100 to get your warrant lifted and obtain a new court date. At that point, you can either pay the amount owed to the court for the unpaid child support, appear in court to represent yourself, or hire an attorney to represent you.

33 municipal and county courts in the St. Louis area will be participating in the Child Support Warrant Relief program. Before purchasing the voucher, you should contact the court where you have a warrant to find out if that court is participating in the program.

Please note that some courts will not lift the warrant if you have already appeared in court and pleaded guilty.

The child support amnesty program will be held on the following days:

Dates:
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Time:
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Location:
Better Family Life Cultural Business and Education Center
5415 Page Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63112

Click here for more information about St. Louis child support amnesty, or call Better Family Life at (314) 381-8200.