What are the consequences of missing your traffic ticket court date?

So what happens when you miss your court date for a traffic ticket? What are the potential consequences that can flow from this mistake?

So, what are the things that can go wrong if you forget about a traffic ticket? Or maybe you got your court date wrong. You realized the actual date was Tuesday and today is Thursday. Well, there are three major concerns.

The first potential issue is an attachment which is also called a bench warrant. For your failure to appear, the court may issue attachment which means you’re subject to arrest if you’re pulled over by a police officer. The attachment is designed to bring you to court to answer for the traffic court.

The second thing to be on the lookout for if you miss a court is a contempt fine. A contempt fine is a penalty you’re being charged for your failure to appear timely. I can tell you in New Orleans that a contempt fine of $100 is issued automatically the night of the missed court date. So, if you had court on Tuesday, by Wednesday morning there will be a contempt fine.

The judge has the discretion to waive the contempt fine. If you have a valid reason for missing the court date, the judge may take those facts in consideration. The timeline for contempt fines being issued varies by court.

The third matter to be concerned about if you missed your court date is getting your license suspended. If you don’t go to court for your court date, or you miss a payment date, there is a very real possibility that at some point your license will be suspended if you haven’t gone in to rectify the matter as soon as possible.

Often, people don’t know that they’re suspended until they’re pulled over. The police officer then runs their license and it turns out their license is suspended. And so now not only do they get the ticket for what they originally pulled over for but they also now they have a driving while suspended ticket.

As a sidenote, one should not pay a driving while suspended ticket as it is the same as pleading guilty. If you pay or plead to guilty to driving while suspended, Louisiana will suspend your license for another year. So it’s very important, if you ever receive a ticket for that charge that you go to court and get that matter reduced to a different charge.

Again, a bench warrant for your arrest, a contempt fine, and or a suspended driver’s license are the potential consequences for missing court to take under consideration.

If you have a traffic ticket or suspended license question, feel free to text or call me or you can schedule a free strategy session at trafficticketsnola.com.