*I was arrested for possession in July of 2010 in Iowa, was released, given a fine of a little over a thousand dollars, and then sent on my merry way out of state to my home in Nebraska. My fine was due by october 18th of 2011.
*I didn't have a job at the time, i obtained a job in November, but had to pay most of the bills, found out i was 4 months pregnant in December, had to put my child up for adoption beings as we could barely afford to feed ourselves let alone a child, missed about a month of work in April when he was born. Lost said job in August of 2011.
*In October when my fine was due, i still didn't have the funds to pay it entirely being as i no longer had a job. I arrived at the police office to turn myself in and was told they couldn't take me because there was no mittimus for my arrest at present and directed me to call the county clerk.
*I called the clerk the very next day and asked her what i needed to do, first she asked me what my name was and disposition of crime, after a pause she told me that her system was down and to explain my case and maybe she would be able to give me an answer based on that, but nothing concrete. I explained my situation and asked if it was possible to serve my time instead of paying the fine and she said "no no no, you can't do that" which kind of shocked me a bit being as my date was coming up and i recieved no mail or phone calls pertaining to my court hearing about my fine. She said that the most that would happen was that they would raise my fine 10% and then after that take my licence, but they would try not to arrest.
* a few days ago I finally was able to get a job, and i just found out that there is a mittimus for me.
my question is, can I take care of everything without having to go into Iowa? I don't have a car, and thus no way to appear in court. I just would like to know my options. I would like to hope it was as simple as a phone call, but i'm never that lucky.
*I didn't have a job at the time, i obtained a job in November, but had to pay most of the bills, found out i was 4 months pregnant in December, had to put my child up for adoption beings as we could barely afford to feed ourselves let alone a child, missed about a month of work in April when he was born. Lost said job in August of 2011.
*In October when my fine was due, i still didn't have the funds to pay it entirely being as i no longer had a job. I arrived at the police office to turn myself in and was told they couldn't take me because there was no mittimus for my arrest at present and directed me to call the county clerk.
*I called the clerk the very next day and asked her what i needed to do, first she asked me what my name was and disposition of crime, after a pause she told me that her system was down and to explain my case and maybe she would be able to give me an answer based on that, but nothing concrete. I explained my situation and asked if it was possible to serve my time instead of paying the fine and she said "no no no, you can't do that" which kind of shocked me a bit being as my date was coming up and i recieved no mail or phone calls pertaining to my court hearing about my fine. She said that the most that would happen was that they would raise my fine 10% and then after that take my licence, but they would try not to arrest.
* a few days ago I finally was able to get a job, and i just found out that there is a mittimus for me.
my question is, can I take care of everything without having to go into Iowa? I don't have a car, and thus no way to appear in court. I just would like to know my options. I would like to hope it was as simple as a phone call, but i'm never that lucky.
