Did you have a bench warrant for missing your preliminary hearing, formal arraignment, pre-trial conference, trial date, probation violation hearing, or other court hearing? Have you failed to pay traffic ticket fines or court costs, or have you failed to complete court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment or alcohol highway safety classes? As an experienced PA bench warrant lawyer, I can assist you in resolving your bench warrant case.
Bucks County Bench Warrant Attorney
I have over a decade of experience providing skilled and aggressive representation to individuals facing bench warrants for failing to appear in court in Bucks County, Montgomery County, and the surrounding counties. Contact me at (215) 752-5282 for a free initial consultation or fill out the confidential contact form for an immediate response. Appointments are available after business hours and on weekends.
When is a Bench Warrant Issued?
Under Pennsylvania law, a bench warrant can be issued for your arrest under any of the following circumstances:
- You fail to appear for a criminal trial
- You fail to appear for a preliminary hearing in a criminal case
- You do not appear for a probation or parole violation hearing
- You do not report to your probation officer as scheduled
What Happens After a Bench Warrant is Issued?
When you fail to attend a court date or hearing, the judge will often issue a written order, referred to as a bench warrant. The bench warrant instructs most law enforcement agencies to take the individual named on the bench warrant into custody immediately upon contact. Once a judge issues the bench warrant, it becomes immediately accessible to law enforcement officers in the state of Pennsylvania through the Judicial Network System (JNET).
Out-of-state warrants are also accessible to the police through the JNET database. It is important to contact an experienced Pennsylvania bench warrant lawyer as soon as possible if a bench warrant has been issued in your name.
Bench Warrants Enter Law Enforcement Databases
A bench warrant will remain active in background checks and law enforcement databases until you are arrested and the court rescinds the bench warrant. A bench warrant permits an immediate “on-the-spot” arrest of the subject of the warrant. Any interaction with local police, state police, sheriff deputies, federal law enforcement, or airport personnel will result in your arrest and immediate detention.
What Happens if You Are Picked up on a Bench Warrant?
If you are arrested by a state or local police officer for an active bench warrant, you will likely spend up to 72 hours in jail before you are granted a hearing and appear before a judge to answer for the bench warrant. After the initial bail hearing, the warrant judge will may revoke your bail completely, meaning you will not be released from custody until your trial, conference or hearing takes place.
In other cases, the warrant judge may require that you post a higher amount of collateral for release and impose additional stricter terms and conditions for your bail. I can assist you and your family with the bail reduction process if you are in custody due to an outstanding bench warrant.
How to Clear a Warrant?
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid serious consequences if you are facing a bench warrant for missing a court date or other hearing. Any individual with an active bench warrant should immediately take the appropriate steps to clear the warrant by surrendering to law enforcement officials with the assistance of a criminal defense attorney, if that is possible.
This is the most important point to hire an experienced PA Bench Warrant Attorney to give you the best possible chance of avoiding jail. I can explain the legal process to rescind the warrant and minimize the chances that the bench warrant judge will detain you.
What Happens When I turn Myself In?
Individuals who voluntarily appear in court to resolve an active bench warrant will often receive better outcomes than those who appear before the warrant judge after they have been arrested and detained. In most cases, the warrant judge will be less likely to incarcerate individuals who have appeared in court to resolve their existing bench warrant.
Contact me if you or your loved one has an active bench warrant for failing to appear for a court hearing. I will carefully examine the circumstances that led to the issuance of the bench warrant in your case to develop an effective defense at the bench warrant hearing.
How to Avoid Jail with a Warrant
Turn Yourself in as Soon as Possible
Turning yourself in as quickly as possible will demonstrate to the judge that you are responsible and that the missed court date was due to reasons other than avoiding court. Generally, the bench warrant judge will rescind the warrant and release you with a new court date if you quickly turn yourself in and provide the court with a reasonable explanation for your absence from court.
Prove you Did Not Receive Notice of the Hearing
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid serious consequences if a bench warrant has been issued in your name. In some cases, I have been able to convince the warrant judge to agree to rescind the warrant by demonstrating that the reason that the individual identified on the warrant missed the court date or hearing was unintentional or unavoidable.
It is often possible to prove that the individual named on the warrant never received proper notice of the court date or hearing from the court, district attorney, or other agency.
Prove you Missed Court Due to a Transportation or Medical Emergency
In other cases, I have been able to establish that mitigating circumstances existed to explain an individual’s absence at a court date or other hearing. There are many times when an individual may not be able to appear in court due to a medical emergency or due to a lack of transportation.
In other cases, an individual may be unable to attend a court hearing because they are receiving vital substance abuse or mental health treatment. I can advise you of the most effective way to present this information to the bench warrant judge to ensure that you have the best chance of being released from custody.
Prove to the Judge that You Appeared at Previous Court Hearings and are Likely to Appear at the Next Hearing
Information presented at the bench warrant hearing about an individual’s employment, character, community ties and history of attendance at previous court hearings will often persuade the warrant judge to rescind the warrant and release the subject of the warrant from custody. I have extensive experience in effectively presenting this type of information at the bench warrant hearing.
Montgomery County Bench Warrant Lawyer
If you are the subject of an active bench warrant in Bucks County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Chester County, or the surrounding Pennsylvania Counties, it is important to contact an experienced Pennsylvania criminal bench warrant attorney as soon as possible. Phone lines are open 24 hours a day at (215) 752-5282. Call today for a free initial consultation or fill out the confidential contact form for an immediate response.
