Asked 1/19/2016 – Houston, TX

I’m currently 17 years old until March. Last year i was in a car accident, and got 4 tickets, 1:Changed lane when unsafe2:No drivers license3:Expired Registration4:Disregard traffic control device. I had court last year and missed the date . so now i have 4 WARRANTS. A lawyer said he can take them off for $320-$400 but i wanna know if i can pay with jail and how long would it be, or community service because im still a minor. I don’t know what to do.

Answer

You can: 1) post bonds to remove the warrants (either through an attorney, a bond company, or by giving the court a cash bond in the amount of the fines), set the cases on the court’s docket and see if there is a way to keep some of these charges from your driving record (either by teen court, deferred adjudication or setting the cases for trial); 2) appear at court, enter pleas of guilty or no contest, have the court enter convictions and assess fines on each case, then make arrangements to pay the fines in installments; 3) enter pleas of guilty or no contest, have fines and convictions entered on these cases, then ask the court to either pay the fines off through doing community service or by sitting the fines out in jail (each court grants different credit for time spent in jail towards fines, so the length of time you would spend in jail is subject to that court’s policy). Please note that if convictions are entered, surcharges will be ASSESSED AND YOUR ABILITY TO EVER OBTAIN A DRIVER’S LICENSE WILL BE GREATLY HAMPERED. WORK SOMETHING OUT WITH THE ATTORNEY.