Did You Miss Court? Take a Deep Breath, We are Here to Help!
You just had a court date and the unthinkable happened… you were not there. At this moment, you might be worried about being arrested, losing your driver’s license, or forfeiting bond money. Don’t panic, there are ways to fix this!
Step One: Call an Attorney
Your first step should be to call the attorney who represents you and try to get their assistance as quickly as possible. If you are unrepresented, or that attorney is not answering your phone calls, that is probably why you are here. Call us at (704) 931-5535 right now and let us know that you have missed court. You’ll speak with one of our experienced lawyers who can help you right away.
When you call us have as many details as you can provide, such as:
- Your name as it is spelled in the current charges, if different than your given name
- Your birthdate
- The county where your charges are pending
- The type of charges you are facing
- Your case number
- The reason why you missed your court date
- Contact information where we can quickly reach you
All of this is helpful for us to resolve your missed court appearance quickly and efficiently.
Step Two: Figure Out What Happened
Once you speak with us or your current attorney, we can help you figure out what occurred on the missed court date. There are a variety of outcomes that can happen.
Missing a traffic ticket in North Carolina can result in being “Called and Failed.” While this process will not result in your arrest, and you will not go to jail, an indefinite suspension will be placed on your driver’s license until you fix the missed court date. If your contact information is not up to date with the DMV, you may not realize that your license is revoked until you are pulled over by the police! A revoked license can cause additional tickets to pile up which can result in years of additional suspension. Missing court is the most common cause of having a revoked driver’s license.
Your case may have been continued even in your absence. If you missed court, you can check online for your court date if it was not in Mecklenburg County, or through the portal for your court date if it was in Mecklenburg County. If your case was continued, that means you did not have to be at the last court date and you should touch base with your attorney to see what occurred.
The worst-case scenario for missing court is that you have a warrant for your arrest. This can be very scary and it can feel hopeless. But we can help you. If you miss court, the judge can issue an Order for Arrest. That means that a warrant will be issued to take you into custody and your bonds will be doubled at the very least by law. If you think that an Order for Arrest was issued because you missed your court appearance, you can email the sheriff to see if you have a warrant or you can call (980) 314-5100. The deputy who answers you should be able to tell you if you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest from anywhere at all in the state. This can give you an idea about what to do next.
Step Three: Get an Attorney to Fix the Problem
If your case was continued, then you’ll be ok. But if you got Called and Failed, or an Order for Arrest was issued, you will need an attorney to fix those issues for you as soon as possible.
An attorney can travel to court on your behalf to get a judge to strike your Called and Failed status. Our attorneys know the right people at the courthouse to get that done quickly for you so that you can drive legally again. We can also contact the DMV directly the same day to make sure that they are aware that your driver’s license suspension for that matter has been resolved. Just give us a call and we can do the rest!
Our attorneys routinely handle striking Orders for Arrest. This will require your physical presence at the courthouse in most cases, since judges and prosecutors want to be sure that you will show up to court. We will contact the court, schedule an opportunity to strike your Order for Arrest, and argue on your behalf so that the judge will not take you into custody. Once the judge strikes your Order for Arrest, you will be given a new court date which you should be sure to take note of and attend.
Missed a court date? Didn’t show up to court? Your lawyer won’t call you back to help or you have no lawyer? Call one of our award winning attorneys at Jetton and Meredith right this second at (704) 931-5535 so we can help you fix this immediately!