Going to the jail to get a background check? A traffic ticket bench warrant can get you arrested.

Hi, my name is Heather Ford, and I am a traffic attorney in the city of New Orleans- also known as the Traffic Ticket Lady. Today, I want to talk about what you should do if you’re going to do a background check and maybe you have some old traffic tickets out there. 

Before I get started, if you ever have any questions about a suspended license, a violation for driving with a suspended license, a traffic ticket, or anything of that nature, you can always shoot me a text or call me at 504-233-8529. You can also schedule a free strategy session at  traffictickettalks.com.

I was in court today and I heard a story that was a little disturbing and unfortunately, not uncommon. A young lady said that she had received tickets back in the day when she was about 17 or 18 and that her mom said she was gonna take care of them for her. Fast forward 10 years later, she goes to the jail because she’s actually applying for a job as a nurse and when they ran her through the system it turns out she has old traffic attachments and they took her to jail.

I can tell you, unfortunately these types of things do happen. People go to jail to go get background checks for a job. I had a client who was coaching little league and he had to get a background check. They run you in the system and if you have an attachment for anything they can take you in right there and it’s even worse if that attachment is for a different jurisdiction than the one you’re in right now. 

Maybe you’re in Jefferson and turns out you have an old traffic ticket from St. Charles. St. Charles might say “tell Jefferson, hold that person, we’ll come get them.” It might take a day or so for that process to happen and all the time in which you’re in jail even though you had no idea that these attachments were still out there. 

It can really just upend your life and that’s something to think about. If you’re ever going down to the courthouse, the jail, or prison, and you fill out any kind of paperwork or even to visit someone, it’s very common for them to run you through the system. 

If you think that you have an old traffic ticket out there that maybe you forgot about, but you’re not sure, call the court first. If it’s New Orleans or Jefferson, pick up the phone and say “hey, I just want to make sure I don’t have a ticket that I maybe forgot about.” You can give them your name and date of birth and they can run you through the system. 

I would love to tell you it’s perfect, that it’s impossible for them to tell you that no, you don’t have a ticket and you don’t have one. However sometimes there are mistakes on their end, but at least it gives you your best chance of not being caught off guard. I can only imagine how traumatizing it was for the young lady to show up and all of a sudden get hauled off to jail when she thought she was there to apply for a job. So be very careful if you’re going down for a background check in a facility where they might run your license or run your record. If you have any concerns, that you have an attachment out there, you need to go in and find out, get that attachment recalled before you go down there. I would hate for you to find out the hard way that you have something you need to deal with. 

If you have questions about if you can get a background check without consequence, you can shoot me a text and I’m happy to lend you my thoughts with a free consultation and point you in the right direction.

If you ever have any questions about DMV fees, traffic tickets, or a suspended license, I’d be happy to speak with you. You can always shoot me a quick text at 504-233-8529 or visit my website trafficticketlady.com.