Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Outstanding warrants & in need of prenatal care asap!

[ashley32303]

Hi, im 22 yrs old and I have outstanding warrants in Texas, for minor traffic violations that went to failure to appear, which are now warrants, one of which was for exp. registration and speeding, I got picked up and bonded out, and had a court date June 1st 2010 for it, that I didnt make... I just moved to Minnesota a few weeks ago and just found out that im about 10 weeks pregnant and in need of prenatal care asap, and im already a single mother of a five year old daughter, im staying with friends right now cause I have no income at the moment, im stuck in a terrible bind and have no idea how to go about this or where to start, I just know that I really cant afford to make any wrong moves right now, as im concerned about losing my daughter over this..... What are my rights? What do I do? What can I do? And Where do I start?
My main focus being on my daughter and getting prenatal care asap.

there's much more to the story.. 2009 was a really tough year on my daughter and I, if you need more details or have any questions, please just ask!

Thank you so much for your time!

 

[mightymoose]

If there is more to the story then it may be hard to address this accurately... but from what you have given here, a traffic warrant as you describe is not serious at all. The court doesn't like it when you fail to show, but it isn't something you would do jail time over.

Since the warrant exists you won't be able to simply pay a fine... you will need to appear in court in front of the judge and take care of business... and you would most likely just be ordered to pay the initial fines with some additional penalties for failing to take care of things on time.

Do yourself a favor. Since you are only a few weeks pregnant, get back down to Texas and take care of business. Call in advance and see if the court will set up a new date for you, but they might tell you to surrender yourself to the sheriff for the warrant. I don't think the sheriff would take you into custody on a traffic warrant though. Contact them and find out how they will let you handle this, and get it out of the way before you have another baby to worry about.

You aren't looking at any jail time for expired registration.... just fines, or maybe a suspended license. Don't be afraid to go into court and deal with this.

 

[army judge]

Hi, im 22 yrs old and I have outstanding warrants in Texas, for minor traffic violations that went to failure to appear, which are now warrants, one of which was for exp. registration and speeding, I got picked up and bonded out, and had a court date June 1st 2010 for it, that I didnt make... I just moved to Minnesota a few weeks ago and just found out that im about 10 weeks pregnant and in need of prenatal care asap, and im already a single mother of a five year old daughter, im staying with friends right now cause I have no income at the moment, im stuck in a terrible bind and have no idea how to go about this or where to start, I just know that I really cant afford to make any wrong moves right now, as im concerned about losing my daughter over this..... What are my rights? What do I do? What can I do? And Where do I start?
My main focus being on my daughter and getting prenatal care asap.

there's much more to the story.. 2009 was a really tough year on my daughter and I, if you need more details or have any questions, please just ask!

Thank you so much for your time!

If you are in MN and this involves ONLY traffic related offenses, MOST Texas courts will allow you to make arrangements to clear this up without returning to Texas.

You will even be allowed (in MOST cases) to make payment arrangements.

If you keep the arrangements, the fines and costs (and even the warrant), will all be legally resolved.

If you don't attend to this, Texas won't try to extradite you from MN for this traffic nonsense.

But, your license will be suspended and you won't get a license in most other states.

If you drive on a suspended license in another state, that state will arrest you for driving on a suspended license.

Call the court in Texas, explain that you are in MN, and make arrangements.

That way, your license won't get snatched up in legal limbo for all eternity!

 

[mightymoose]

Will Texas allow this even with a couple FTA's?

 

[army judge]

Will Texas allow this even with a couple FTA's?

It just depends on the judge and the court.
Whether they work with you, they sure as heck won't affect your extradition from Minnesota.
Generally, lower courts (Justice of the Peace Courts and Muni Courts) work with people.
Why?
They want the money.
Those courts have limited jurisdiction anyway.
They handle ordinance and traffic matters and are not courts of record, like our county and district courts.
County courts tend be more strict.
They, too, handle traffic, and lesser matters; but they are courts of record.