What to Do When Your Bond Has Been Revoked

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.

Why You Should Never Ignore a Traffic Citation

Don’t let your busy life get in the way of taking care of a traffic citation or you could find yourself facing steep fines, additional charges and could even be arrested if you missed your original court date. Even if you feel the traffic ticket you received was not justified, ignoring the problem will not make it go away. There is a set court date which requires your presence, and missing that court date is seen as a serious offense by most judges.

If you become aware that you have missed your court date, contacting an experienced attorney immediately is your best course of action to prevent further negative consequences. Those consequences could include a Houston county arrest warrant being issued as well as significantly increased fines and a blot on your driving record. It is rarely a good idea to go into court without a criminal attorney by your side once a warrant has been issued. Although you may get lucky and land in front of a kind judge who will kindly help you solve your ticket problems, it is just as likely that you could be told to go home and come back with an attorney or, in rarer cases, be taken to jail.

Seek Legal Advice Before the Situation Worsens
If you have been charged with failure to appear and a Harris County arrest warrant issued for you, a Houston attorney may be able to have that warrant vacated, meaning you will be back to square one. You will be responsible for appearing in court and paying your original ticket fines but the good part is you will not be arrested and the warrant will be dismissed. Resolving the issue is always a better option than being arrested, possibly at your home or even at work in front of your co-workers and boss. If the attorney is unable to have your warrant vacated, then you must post a bond in Houston which is meant to ensure your appearance at your next court date.

Bear in mind that you will now be facing a Failure to Appear charge as well as your original traffic ticket charges meaning you will be subject to paying steep fines. Your attorney may try to work out a deferred adjudication on your behalf meaning you will be put on a type of probation for a certain length of time. Although you will enter a guilty plea, the judge will defer his finding of guilt until you have successfully completed the probationary period, and your record will not show a conviction for the offense. This can prevent your Harris County arrest warrant from becoming a stumbling block in your future and will not add points to your driving record. Your attorney may also suggest a defensive driving course to the judge to lessen the ultimate consequences of your traffic violation. 

Why You Shouldn’t Pay Old Tickets Simply to Avoid a Warrant—and What You Should Do Instead

If you’ve neglected to pay one or more Houston traffic citations, you may find yourself in the position of having a Harris county arrest warrant in your name. Whether you simply forgot about the ticket or deliberately neglected to take care of it because you didn’t feel you deserved the citation, the reality is that old tickets don’t simply go away because you forget about them. Eventually you will get caught, whether it is through a routine traffic stop, or during Houston’s annual warrant roundup.

While your first instinct may be to pay the tickets immediately to avoid the possibility of being arrested in your home or at work—or anywhere for that matter—there may be a better way to handle the situation.  If you are aware that a Houston arrest warrant has been issued for you, the smart thing to do is get it fixed while you still have at least a bit of leverage as well as more than one option to make the problem go away.

Options Other Than Paying Your Old Tickets
No matter which direction you choose to go regarding your past due traffic tickets and warrant for failure to appear, it is highly advised that you consult an experienced attorney in the area before you make your final decision. There may be many factors you are unaware of or had not considered that your attorney will be cognizant of, giving you a much better chance of a positive outcome.

1.  If you are aware there is a Houston arrest warrant with your name on it, hire an attorney immediately and discuss whether there is a possibility of the attorney having the warrant quashed, which means it is effectively cancelled and you no longer have to worry about being arrested. If this option is a possibility it can save you not only the humiliation of an arrest but the expense of additional fines as well as the possibility of a blot on your record. If your attorney is able to have the warrant quashed, then the court will set a new court date which you absolutely must show up for.

2.  You can post a Harris county bond, either in person, through your attorney or through a bondsman. If you go in person to post a bond in Houston you run the risk of being arrested right then and there, although it is not especially likely. The goal of the city is to collect the money for outstanding traffic citations therefore there is probably little interest in jailing you when you are making the effort to pay your fines.

Could Houston’s Annual Warrant Roundup Affect You?

Every year the state of Texas holds a two-month long great warrant roundup and if you happen to be “asked” to participate in the roundup it is not nearly as much fun as it might sound. Those individuals who have neglected to pay a traffic ticket or other Class C misdemeanor ticket may find themselves actively pursued under a City of Houston arrest warrant. Just last March Houston began their annual warrant roundup clearing nearly 30,000 warrants, netting two and a half million dollars in outstanding fines and making over four thousand arrests.  These roundups are a significant source of revenue for Texas counties, however if your name is on the warrant list should you simply pay up? While the threat of being arrested at your home or place of work is frightening enough to cause you to immediately write out a check, in many cases it is much more advantageous to consult an experienced traffic attorney who can offer you some options.

Posting a Bond vs. Paying Your Tickets
If you know that you have an outstanding Houston arrest warrant you are probably in a better position than those who are unaware of the fact. Knowledge of the arrest warrant gives you time to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation such as being arrested in front of your boss and co-workers. Before the roundup officially kicks into gear, you have the option of posting a Harris county traffic bond which can give you some time to decide how you want to handle the situation. A Sugarland bond or Jersey Village bond can also be posted should you reside in those areas. Posting a bond is not difficult and can allow you and your attorney to decide whether you will ultimately pay your tickets and suffer the consequences or fight for a better end result such as deferred adjudication or a mandated defensive driving course. Simply paying your ticket can result in a variety of repercussions, none of them particularly good. You will accrue points on your driver’s license, be subject to higher insurance rates and in some cases your employment may even be affected.

City of Houston Municipal court Fine and Bond schedule

As of January 2010
 
Note: Fine amounts and costs are subject to change.
For fine amounts not listed, call 311 or (713) 837-0311
Telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) call 311 or (713) 247-8591
Also visit the city of Houston municipal court website at
WWW.HOUSTONCOURTS.ORG

SPEEDING VIOLATIONS

MPH Over Limit	Speeding in POSTED ZONE		Speeding in SCHOOL ZONE		Speeding in CONSTRUCTION ZONE (workers present)
1-5MPH		$170	$220		$235
6-9 MPH		$180	$235		$260
10-14 MPH		$200	$250		$295
15-19 MPH		$245	$270		$380
20-29 MPH		$265	$295		$430
30 MPH & Over		$300	$325		$500

MOVING VIOLATIONS (NO ACCIDENT INVOLVED)

VIOLATION	TOTAL WINDOW FINE
Running a Red Light or a Stop Sign	$230
Failure to Obey Must Turn Signal	$180
Change Lanes Not In Safety	$180
Driving at Night without Lights	$180
HOV Lane Violations	$170
No Registration/Receipt for Commercial Truck/Trailer	$155
Failure to Change Address on Driver’s License	$105
Defective Equipment Violations (non-commercial vehicle) (non-functioning/missing lights, brakes, mufflers, mirrors, etc.)	$130

High-Speed Chase Ends on Dallas Love Field Runway

DALLAS—An hour-long police chase late last month ended in the arrest of a suspect wanted in connection with several robberies in the Dallas area. Michael Lawrence Brown, 46, was taken into custody next to one of Love Field airport’s busiest runways after leading police on a high-speed chase through the city. 

Police said that a gray Chevy pickup, which had been stolen at knife point from the Sheraton Hotel in Fort Worth, was spotted at an apartment complex in the area of Preston Road and Belt Line Road in north Dallas around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 19. This started a chase that ran down the service roads of Central Expressway. 

After heading through neighborhoods and even traveling south into the downtown area, Brown turned the pickup truck northbound and wound up at Love Field. 

With no other way to go, he easily smashed through a security gate off of Aviation Place and found himself on the tarmac not far from nine Southwest passenger jets. But he didn’t stop there: Brown drove east over an active runway (31R) before turning and continuing up the taxiway. He crossed Runway 18 and was boxed in by four cruisers and an unmarked police truck, then was forced onto the grass north of Runway 18 in between the taxiway and Runway 13L. One officer used a pit maneuver to force the truck into a spin, and the chase was over. 

New Motorcycle Laws Roll Into Texas September 1, 2009

HOUSTON—On June 19, 2009, Governor Rick Perry signed into law Senate Bill 1967 (SB1967) of the 81st Regular Legislative Session. This law became effective September 1, 2009, and includes many motorcycle-related changes that affect all riders.

First, the bill requires that applicants for an original class M license or class A, B or C driver license (including commercial driver licenses and permits) with authorization to operate a motorcycle, provide evidence of completion of an approved motorcycle operator training course. It also repeals the helmet exemption sticker program.

Former law required a person be covered with a minimum of $10,000 in health insurance for injuries incurred in a motorcycle accident to be eligible for an exception for the offense of operating or riding a motorcycle without a helmet. SB1967 removes that minimum amount, and requires the Texas Department of Insurance to prescribe a standard proof of health insurance for issuance to persons who are at least 21 years of age and covered by an applicable health insurance plan. The terms "health insurance plan" refer to an individual, group, blanket, or franchise insurance policy, insurance agreement, evidence of coverage, group hospital services contract, health maintenance organization membership, or employee benefit plan that provides benefits for health care services or for medical or surgical expenses incurred as a result of an accident.