Suppose you neglected to either mail in the
fine or appear in court after receiving a traffic citation. Soon you’ve
forgotten about the entire thing as your busy life takes over only to
find yourself rudely jolted back to earth when you learn there is a
Houston County arrest warrant issued for you. At this point you can
decide to head down to the Courthouse, hoping you get a kind judge who
will believe your story as to why you missed your court date. If you are
very lucky, the judge will simply re-set your court date. Notice I said
if you are very lucky,
so please do not assume this is the norm. More likely the judge will
require you to post a bond to ensure you show up for your next court
date. A Harris County traffic bond is also applicable if you did not
realize there was an arrest warrant and were actually arrested or if
you knew about the warrant and had either a bail bondsman or your
attorney post a bond on your behalf.
When Your Bond is Revoked
Posting a Harris County traffic bond allows you to continue with your normal life, work and family until it is time for your next court appearance. The bond is presumed to be incentive for you to remember to show up for court since you lose your bond money if you don’t appear. Should you miss that second court date, not only will you likely be in serious legal trouble, you may also have your Harris County traffic bond revoked. If you didn’t hire an attorney the first time you missed your court date, it is absolutely time to do so now. The judge in your case is not going to take a second skipped court date lightly, and handling the situation on your own is not advisable.
If you choose not to seek legal help then in addition to bearing the cost of having your bond revoked, yet another Houston County arrest warrant will be issued, and this time the police may actively seek you out in order to execute the warrant. Bear in mind that the police officers who are sent out to find you and arrest you could care less where that arrest takes place. You could be arrested while out with your family, while at work, while taking your children to school or even at a school function. The officers will arrest you where they can find you regardless of the embarrassment it may cause you. In the end you could be facing your original traffic charges, two Failure to Appear charges and a revoked bond meaning you will be stuck in jail.
Seeking Legal Help
There is little you can do for yourself at this point without the services of an experienced Houston attorney. The judge will not likely be receptive to setting another bond unless you have an exceptionally good reason for missing two court dates. If another bond is allowed, it will probably be significantly higher than the first. As you can probably see, ignoring a minor traffic infraction can lead to serious legal issues with long-term consequences so seek the services of a qualified attorney at the first sign of trouble.
When Your Bond is Revoked
Posting a Harris County traffic bond allows you to continue with your normal life, work and family until it is time for your next court appearance. The bond is presumed to be incentive for you to remember to show up for court since you lose your bond money if you don’t appear. Should you miss that second court date, not only will you likely be in serious legal trouble, you may also have your Harris County traffic bond revoked. If you didn’t hire an attorney the first time you missed your court date, it is absolutely time to do so now. The judge in your case is not going to take a second skipped court date lightly, and handling the situation on your own is not advisable.
If you choose not to seek legal help then in addition to bearing the cost of having your bond revoked, yet another Houston County arrest warrant will be issued, and this time the police may actively seek you out in order to execute the warrant. Bear in mind that the police officers who are sent out to find you and arrest you could care less where that arrest takes place. You could be arrested while out with your family, while at work, while taking your children to school or even at a school function. The officers will arrest you where they can find you regardless of the embarrassment it may cause you. In the end you could be facing your original traffic charges, two Failure to Appear charges and a revoked bond meaning you will be stuck in jail.
Seeking Legal Help
There is little you can do for yourself at this point without the services of an experienced Houston attorney. The judge will not likely be receptive to setting another bond unless you have an exceptionally good reason for missing two court dates. If another bond is allowed, it will probably be significantly higher than the first. As you can probably see, ignoring a minor traffic infraction can lead to serious legal issues with long-term consequences so seek the services of a qualified attorney at the first sign of trouble.
This is a great post!
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