What Happens if I Don’t Go to Court?

If you’re taken into custody and then released on bond to await your trial, you are expected to show up for any court appointment you are scheduled to appear at. Since you’re given prior notice of all appearances, and you’re generally notified of these dates well in advance, there are very few excuses that are good enough to keep you out of trouble for missing one of your scheduled appearances. Don’t think that you can reschedule your appearance without a very good reason, either.

When you are taken into custody, your first appearance is scheduled. Your name is added to the court’s docket for that day. A docket is a list of all the people scheduled for court for a certain period. When it’s your turn to appear before the judge, someone will call your name. If you aren’t there, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest for failure to appear in court.

Further complicating matters, if you have been released on bond and used a bail bondsman to help you get out, the bail bondsman may be looking for you in addition to law enforcement. A bail bond is a guarantee that you’ll show up for court. The idea behind bail bonding is that you won’t want to lose money so you’ll definitely appear when you’re supposed to. If you don’t show up for court as scheduled, that bail bond and whatever collateral you might have used to secure the bond is forfeited.

What that means is that the money you, your family, or a bail bondsman has paid to the court is lost to that court. If you only paid a percentage of the bond (as is common with a bail bondsman or a cash bond) then the entire amount is due and payable immediately to the court. You will not get that money back. If you are taken into custody on a warrant for not appearing in court, you will either have to stay in custody or be approved for and come up with an additional and usually much higher amount of bail the second time.

A bail bondsman does not want to have to pay the court the total amount of your bond and then try to collect it from you or your family. The agent will usually be in constant contact with you to make sure you’re going to court as planned. If you don’t, he or she may look for you and bring you back into custody themselves. While not all bail bondsmen are like Dog the Bounty Hunter, it is certainly not a walk in the park if they have to come and retrieve you.

If there is a truly good reason you are unable to appear in court as planned, be certain to contact your lawyer and your bail bondsman as soon as you are aware of the situation that will keep you out of court. Whether you are going to be late for your appearance or are going to have to miss it altogether, it is critical that you make arrangements and notify everyone as quickly as possible to make sure the court does not issue a warrant for your arrest.

For more information on bail bondsmen, types of bond, and the importance of court appearances, visit 1800Libertad.com or call us at 1-800-Libertad (1-800-542-3782).