Criminal Defense Lawyers

Failure to Comply Warrants

Failure to Comply Warrants: What You Need to Know

Failure to comply warrants, also called failure to appear warrants or FTA warrants, are basically warrants that get issued when someone doesn’t show up for a court date or doesn’t follow through on what the court ordered them to do. It’s like the court’s way of saying “Hey, you didn’t do what you were supposed to, so now we’re gonna come after you.

“These things can be kind of a pain to deal with, but it’s important to understand how they work so you know what to do if you end up with one. Let’s break it down:

What Exactly is a Failure to Comply Warrant?

Basically, it’s an arrest warrant that gets issued when someone fails to do what the court told them they gotta do. Some examples:

• You miss a court date – Maybe you just forgot or there was some kind of mix up. Doesn’t matter though, miss the date and boom, warrant.
• You don’t complete probation terms – Part of probation is following whatever rules they give you. Skip too many meetings with your probation officer or fail too many drug tests and you could end up with a warrant.
• You don’t pay fines or fees – Not paying your court fines or fees by the deadline can also get you a warrant.
• You don’t complete court ordered classes or programs – Stuff like anger management or DUI classes. Don’t finish ’em and that’s warrant city.

So anytime you don’t hold up your end of the bargain with the court, you risk getting one of these warrants. The warrant basically gives the police permission to come find you and arrest you to get you back in front of the judge.

How Do You Get a Failure to Comply Warrant Removed?

Obviously you wanna get that thing cleared up ASAP. Here’s what you gotta do:

1. Turn Yourself In

The easiest way is to just go to the court or police station and turn yourself in. You’ll get booked and have to post bail, but at least you can get it handled. Make sure to be respectful and cooperative too – it’ll look good when you see the judge.

2. Contact Your Lawyer

If you got a lawyer for your original case, hit them up and let them know about the warrant. They can file a motion to get it recalled or quashed. They’ll know all the legal mumbo jumbo to take care of it.

3. Request a Warrant Recall

If you don’t have a lawyer, see if you can request a warrant recall hearing. You’ll have to give the court a good reason why you missed your date or didn’t complete your terms. Like if you have proof you were in the hospital or something.

4. Turn Yourself In and Request a Hearing

You can also turn yourself in and then request a hearing to recall the warrant right away. The judge may or may not grant it depending on your excuse.

5. Complete Your Requirements

For some warrants, if you complete whatever it was you failed to do, like pay your fines or finish your classes, the court will recall the warrant. But don’t just assume that’ll work – still best to talk to the court.

What Happens When You Get Picked Up on a Failure to Comply Warrant?

If the cops find you before you can take care of the warrant yourself, here’s the usual play-by-play:

• You get arrested, no matter where they find you – at home, work, walking down the street, chillin’ at the park, doesn’t matter. Warrant means you’re getting cuffed.
• They’ll transport you to the county jail and book you in. You’ll have to change into a jumpsuit, get your fingerprints and mugshot taken, all that jazz.
• In most cases you’ll have to post bail again before being released. The bail amount should be on the warrant.
• After release, you’ll have a new court date to go before the judge and explain yourself.
• The judge will either quash the warrant and reinstate your probation, or revoke probation altogether and impose the original sentence that was suspended.

So it can mean more jail time and get real serious real fast. That’s why it’s crucial to handle that warrant ASAP on your own terms.

What Factors Can Make it Worse?

Some things that could make the situation way worse if you try to ignore a failure to comply warrant:

• Additional crimes – If you get arrested for something else while the warrant is out, you’re looking at extra charges being added.
• Leaving the state – If you bail on the warrant by leaving the state, you could face federal charges for crossing state lines to avoid prosecution. No bueno.
• Length of time – The longer the warrant is out there, the less patience the court will have with your excuses. A few weeks is better than a few years.
• Previous FTAs – If you already have a history of missing court dates and ignoring orders, the judge won’t be very sympathetic this time around either.

So don’t let it fester thinking it’ll go away. Handle it ASAP!

What Defenses Work Against Failure to Comply Warrants?

If you ended up with a warrant but you have a decent excuse, there are some defenses that could get it dropped:

• No notice – If you never got notified about the court date or order you missed, you can’t get in trouble for not showing up.
• False information – If the date, time or location on the notice was outright wrong, that’s a good defense.
• Emergency – If you can prove you missed court or probation because of a medical emergency, family crisis, or some other unavoidable calamity, the judge may excuse it.
• Completed requirements – Like we mentioned before, if you finish up whatever the warrant was related to, like paying fines or finishing a program, you can ask for it to be recalled.
• COVID delays – With courts being backed up due to COVID, some warrants related to filing delays or missed virtual hearings might be excused.
• Procedural errors – If there was some kind of procedural screw up in how the warrant was issued or handled, that could invalidate it. A lawyer would have to establish this.

Bottom line – if you have a compelling reason why the warrant isn’t fair or just an honest mistake, speak up! The judge may agree with you and recall it.

How Can You Check for Failure to Comply Warrants?

If you think you may have a warrant but aren’t sure, you can check for any outstanding warrants a few ways:

• Call the court or clerk’s office and ask if there are any open warrants under your name.
• Call the public defender’s office – they can search for warrants as well.
• Go to the police station and ask them to run your name through the system.
• Hire a lawyer to search the court records and databases for warrants.
• Search public online court records for any failure to appear or probation violation cases against you.

Ideally, take care of any pending court matters ASAP before they turn into warrants. But if you do have one, don’t try to ignore it – get that thing handled! Just be smart and safe about how you address it.

The Takeaway on Failure to Comply Warrants

Dealing with warrants is never fun, but if you get slapped with a failure to comply warrant, chill. Don’t panic and do something stupid. Just focus on handling it the right way. Turn yourself in at the court, contact your lawyer if you have one, and be honest with the judge about what happened.

The faster you can recall the warrant and get back in compliance with probation or the court order, the better. Letting it drag on will only make things worse. It’s a pain, but not the end of the world as long as you take care of business. So stay on top of your court stuff, and you can avoid these warrants messing up your day!