Missed your court date? Unfortunately, you can’t always “make it up”. When you have been ordered to appear in court and then fail to show up, you could be facing additional criminal charges. Ohio judges expect people to show up for their “appointments”, particularly if they were granted bail.

Things come up. I understand that you didn’t intend to miss your court date but possibly had no other choice. You may have had to travel, or moved out of state. Or maybe you were panicked about the situation and made a bad decision. But now you may be facing criminal charges or have a warrant out for your arrest; let me help you.

If you have been released by a judge on bail, it is because that judge truly believes you will return for your future court dates.   Failing to return proves to the judge that they were wrong in thinking you were not a “flight risk”.  So if you are caught, you will almost certainly be held in jail for some time, possibly for the entirety of the rest of your court case.

You will be caught.  Eventually.  There won’t be a team of officers looking for you, but a minor misdemeanor charge will get you. A speeding ticket.  A broken tail light.  Failure to use proper signals. Any minor incident or interaction with local police or Ohio state highway patrol can get you arrested and thrown in jail.

With the new license plate scanning technology that automatically reads license plates and flags any car or driver with criminal or license issues, you could be pulled over for doing nothing wrong.  The officer with this in his car must pull you over.  The risks are huge.  If you have an outstanding criminal warrant – deal with it immediately, while you still have options,  I can help negotiate a result that will keep you out of jail.

If your bail was a promise that you would appear and then you fail to show back up for court,  it is called, “bail jumping”. It won’t get you additional criminal charges but does have serious consequences. When you fail to appear for a court date after being released on bail, a warrant will be issued for your arrest.  At this point, your bail may be forfeited.  Your money or collateral that you put up for your release will go to the state.

This problem will not go away.  Eventually, the warrant will be served and the longer you wait to take care of the situation, the larger the consequences.  There is no statute of limitations.  This will surely come back to haunt you years down the road.

The Bottom Line: This problem can be fixed.  If you haven’t been arrested yet, I can help work out a deal to turn yourself in, with little or no penalty, depending on the charges. If you are afraid and unsure of what to do, call me, I can help.  By fighting in the courtroom and negotiating with experience, we can avoid a conviction or mitigate the worst provision of this charge.  Put my mobile phone number into your phone:  513-260-2099