mandatory court appearance in another state, cannot appear...what can I do?

Question

found I had an unpaid speeding ticket from 2000...now living on west coast and impossible to travel to NC to take care of it

Answer 1

Both of the previous answers are correct:
- You can hire an attorney to represent you. Usually in cases like this they can negotiate with the court for you so that you don't have to appear. Make sure it's an attorney in the state where the court is. Most attorneys will give you a free quote and tell you what they can do. So call a lawyer.

- Similarly, courts tend to be pretty lenient about this sort of thing as long as you make a real effort to work with them, so contact the court as well.

I'd still hire the lawyer. You'll pay several hundred dollars in fees, but the lawyer will probably be able to negotiate the fine (which is probably huge by now) down to something you can afford, saving you money in the long run.

Joe

Answer 2

You need to make contact with the court of record, and make arrangements to take care of the matter...if you do not, since many states reciprocate, NC can ask to have your driving license revoked until ticket paid, and or your car license and registration revoked until such time as you take care of the fine and court costs. Failure to do so will probably result in loss of driving priveledges. The thing is, this will happen and you may not know about it. You are driving, get involved in an accident, or pulled over, and the officer advises you your license is suspended, and oops, of to jail you go. Happened to my daughter, so dont just laugh this off. Sorry for the bad news.

Answer 3

Best thing to do is to get a lawyer in the jurisdiction where the ticket was from. In most cases the lawyer can contact the court and get the matter resolved. Don't be surprised to have to pay court fees and other fees related to not paying off the ticket in a timely manner. Be wise, hire an attorney to get it taken care of. If there is a warrant for failure to appear, and you get stopped, your going to be arrested.

Answer 4

If you never travel to NC again, then don't worry about it. They can't collect. Be careful, though. I had a friend that used to speed and he'd rip up tickets vowing never to return to that state again. But once, I think it was New York State, he returned and got picked up again and had to spend the night in jail. As long as you're never going to NC again, then blow it off.
Either that or do what I did when I got a ticket in a faraway town. Just call them and ask them what the payoff is to forfeit the case. Then you're just basically pleading guilty and paying it and you shouldn't have to appear at all. It'd be cheaper than traveling to court.

Answer 5

All warrants from any state are entered into the NCIC (National Crime Information Center).

All I can say is that if you are stopped by the police and you have a warrant, they will apprehend you and take you to jail.

My advice would be to get a lawyer and see what he/she can do, they know the law and can advise you on what you need to do.

Answer 6

Call the clerk of the circuit court. They will tell you what to do. Your drivers license may have already been suspended so you will have to straighten this out. If you send them your fine and the additional charges you should be alright.

Answer 7

see if you can hire an attorney to represent you, if not pospone it till you can come. But if they issue a warrant for you and suspend your drivers license for not appearing, I guess you would have to find a way to get there then ????

Answer 8

-----Get a lawyer, immediately. Get a lawyer if you even **think** you have legal troubles; you **know** you do. The lawyer will tell you how bad off you are. The law has an extremely long reach, and an extremely long memory. ---Jim