Asked 9/28/2016 – Richmond, TX

I was caught driving without a license, was Given a ticket I didn’t pay or show up. Now I have a warrant, I looked at my records and I had 2 court dates for the same violation. One is labels class c misdemeanor the other is traffic misdemeanor, both have different fines, after those two is my warrant that has been issued. Plus I thought that a class c misdemeanor is a (fine only)

Answer

When a citation (other than a speeding citation) is issued to a person, an officer has the right to take that person to jail, have that person arraigned before a magistrate, then have that person post a bond to get out of jail just like if said person was arrested for DWI or assault or any other more serious charge. In most cases when a ticket is issued, however, the offender just signs a ticket and is released to appear at a later date. The ticket that person signs is actually a notice to appear and essentially serves as the bond on the case. When you failed to appear in court as directed on the citation you were given, you committed the separate offense of Failure to Appear. Class c misdemeanors are punishable by fine only, but a warrant was issued for your arrest not as punishment after being found guilty on the offenses but for not complying with the terms of your release. Contact a local attorney who can post bonds, remove the warrants and help you in these matters.