Traffic tickets can be easy to forget as there is no email, text, or convenient deadline reminder for traffic citations. Instead, the reminder you may get for an unpaid ticket is a warrant for your arrest or a notice that your license is set to be suspended.
Law enforcement and district courts take unpaid traffic tickets seriously, and an arrest on your record is a significant problem. So, what can happen if you forget to resolve a ticket? Besides a possible arrest from a warrant, you can also face other penalties: 1) Increased fines and late fees, 2) Driver’s license suspension or 3) Vehicle impoundment
You do not want to spend time in jail because of an unresolved speeding ticket, parking ticket, or other infraction.
Traffic tickets do not expire. Instead, your traffic ticket information will give you a deadline to either: 1) Fight the ticket in traffic court, 2) Pay the ticket and plead guilty or 3) Plead no contest to the ticket
If you fail to act in this time frame the issue does not just go away or incur additional fees. Consequences get much more serious. Your state’s traffic ticket laws have specific information on the penalties for unpaid tickets.
In general, the unpaid ticket will stay on your record indefinitely until you act on it. If you never show up in court to handle the ticket or pay the fine, a judge could issue a bench warrant for your arrest. The bench refers to the bench inside the courtroom where you must appear to deal with the ticket.
Arrest warrants never expire until you “pay the fine or do the time.” The court can issue a warrant years after you were first ticketed. There is no statute of limitations or set date range by which the courts must issue an arrest warrant. Any county can turn a legal issue into a bench warrant at any time, even 10 years later.
If this happens, it means there is a court order that mandates your arrest and court appearance to face your unpaid citation.If you or a loved one is in a bind as a result of criminal allegations, immediately contact a Seattle Criminal Attorney. A Criminal lawyer is not going to judge you and understands that everyone makes mistakes. Hiring a Seattle Criminal Lawyer to help can – at a minimum – reduce penalties and can help direct people on how to best deal with their criminal charge, and many times even get them dismissed. So, it should go without saying that someone cited for a misdemeanor or felony should hire a qualified Seattle Criminal Lawyer as soon as possible. Criminal charges can cause havoc on a person’s personal and professional life. Anyone charged with a crime in Washington State should immediately seek the assistance of a seasoned Seattle Criminal Lawyer. SQ Attorneys can be reached at (425) 359-3791 and/or (206) 441-0900
