Deferred Disposition and Why that Ticket is Still Haunting You

“I thought I paid that”:  Differed Disposition and Why that Ticket Is Still Haunting You

                I handle lots of Class C misdemeanors.  The most common Class C misdemeanors are traffic tickets (moving violations): things like speeding, running a red light, etc. 

                A very common way of resolving a Class C is deferred disposition.  This is when the Defendant enters a plea of no contest but the finding of guilt is “deferred” for a period of time, often 90 or 180 days, and conditions are placed on the Defendant that must be completed by the time the deferral ends.

                The most common conditions are “no new tickets/convictions”, driver’s safety course, and payment of a special expense fee (and sometimes court costs).  This means that within the period of deferral the Defendant has to do the things asked of him/her. 

                I get a lot of calls from people who say “I thought I took care of this, but I got a letter/phone call, etc. Why?”  Most often it is because s/he entered a deferred disposition but did not abide by the conditions and complete the deferral. 

                How you can mess up a deferral:

·         “No new tickets/convictions”:  Ifyou get a new ticket or a new conviction, depending on the jurisdiction, the deferral will not be successfully completed.  Sometimes, you have to submit an affidavit swearing that you have not had any new convictions. 

·         “Special Expense Fee”:  You will always have to pay a fee (it is not technically a fine) for a deferral.  If you do not pay by the deadline, you will not successfully complete the deferral.

·         “Drivers Safety”:  If you have been told to complete a class, such as driver’s safety course, you have to do it during the deferral period AND submit proof of completion.  If you do not do it, you will not successfully complete the deferral.

If you have entered into a deferral and have not successfully completed it, typically you will be set for a “show cause” hearing in which you will be most likely (depending on the jurisdiction) be given a chance to explain why you did not complete the deferral and sometimes you will be given a short amount of time to complete and submit proof.   If you do not attend the show cause hearing, at that time, a finding of guilt will be entered and you will be convicted of the Class C. The notice for the show cause will be sent to the address the court has and usually will not be forwarded.   If you do attend the show cause and are not given more time, a conviction will be entered.  If you are given more time, and still don’t complete the deferral, a conviction will be entered.

If you get a conviction entered after you do not complete a deferral, typically a heavier fine will be assessed.  Some jurisdictions will max the fine assessed.  At that point, typically a warrant will issue as well and will not be withdrawn until you pay the fine.  If you are convicted of an offense that carries a license suspension or surcharge, or both, you will be assessed that as well.  If it is a moving violation, points will be added to your driver’s license.  The conviction will be placed on your driving record and will likely be reported to your insurance.

It is very important you understand the conditions placed on you when you enter into a deferral.  Ask questions and get it clarified by the court staff.  Calendar ALL deadlines and abide by them.  If something comes up and you cannot make a deadline, ask for an extension in writing.  It is easier to get an extension prior to the deadline than asking for time at the show cause – lots of courts are not very forgiving at the show cause.

If you are struggling with tickets that seem to keep popping up, give me a call today. 

Warrant Round Up is Here!

Some of you may have gotten “warrant round up” notices in the past several weeks. Texas’ Warrant Round Up started February 15, 2017 and it will last several weeks. 

Over three hundred agencies participate in Warrant Round Up.  Austin Municipal Court and many of the justice courts (JPs) in Travis County participate.  If you have a warrant that is not in one of these jurisdictions, you can still be arrested for your warrant during this time, but it will just be coincidental instead of part of the coordinated effort these other jurisdicitions are undertaking.

Warrant Round Up focuses mostly on Class C misdemeanor warrants.  Class C misdemeanors are the lowest level misdemeanors in Texas law and they are punishable by fine only, usually up to $500. 

However, there are some instances in which you can be taken to jail for a Class C misdemeanor.  I will deal with two here.   

I.                    Failure to Appear:  “Open” Tickets

If you receive a Class C ticket, and you fail to appear and it remains open, meaning no action has been taken since the issuance of the citation, in most jurisdictions a warrant will issue.  In some courts, you may also be charged with a subsequent Class C offense of Failure to Appear. You will have a warrant on that new Failure to Appear as well.  You can be taken to jail on these “open ticket” warrants.  What happens when you are arrested for these kinds of warrants depends on the jurisdiction.  For an Austin Municipal Court ticket, you may be given the option of pleading guilty at magistration at the jail and agreeing to pay the ticket, or you may be given a court date if you plead not guilty and told to appear in Austin Municipal Court. For Travis County tickets, you may be taken to the court of jurisdiction, which may happen the next business day depending on what time of day you get arrested.

If you have Class C tickets that are “open”, there are several options on how to dispose of those and get the warrants cleared.  Some are better than others.  Here are some of them:

1)      You can always plead no contest and agree to pay.  In Austin Municipal Court, you can go to the courthouse or satellite stations and do this without having to fear being arrested.  There are drawbacks to this option of which you should be aware.  Simply telling a court staffer you want to plead guilty and pay the ticket waives any chance you have at negotiating the fine down with a court prosecutor.  You will pay the full amount plus some extra court costs for letting it go to warrant.  Secondly, depending on the charge, there may be collateral consequences for pleading no contest.  Pleading no contest to driving while license invalid, no drivers license, or failure to maintain financial responsibility where you already have one conviction could trigger a license suspension and will cause surcharges on your license to be assessed. If you did not have an eligible driver’s license at the time you got a moving violation, and you pay it, this could trigger a DPS departmental suspension of your license because you are admitting by paying the ticket and pleading no contest that you were driving without a license. 

2)      You can post bond with the court and put your case back on the docket.  This will allow you to speak with the prosecutors at a court date and negotiate to pay less and potentially keep it off your record, avoiding any collateral consequences that could come with a conviction. This may be an expensive undertaking as bond in some courts can be double the fine.

3)      You can hire an attorney to designate on your cases and put them back on the docket.  Usually this is done by sending a letter to the court in which the attorney says s/he’s going to be responsible for the case.  Sometimes, the attorney has to post an attorney surety bond with the court.  Once this happens, the warrant will be rescinded, and the attorney will appear in court for you, speak with the prosecutor in that court, and get a deal worked out for you.  Many times this deal will allow you to keep a conviction for the Class C off your record and will be cheaper to resolve than just simply paying the ticket. I am available to do this work across the state of Texas.

II.                 Commitment Warrants – Satisfying the Judgment

If you receive a Class C ticket and there has been a judgment -- ie, you have pled no contest or been convicted at trial – you have to pay or otherwise satisfy that judgment. If you do not, a “commitment” will issue.  This is a kind of warrant.  At that point the ticket is no longer “open”.  It is in “commitment” status.  That means you cannot change your mind under most circumstances and change what you agreed to pay or even that you agreed to pay.  Its done; you simply have to fulfill your obligation as agreed.

If you’ve already pled on your citation and have agreed to pay, but you cannot, you can sometimes go back to the court and ask to be put on a payment plan for an amount you can pay per month.  Often times this agreement will be enough for the court to rescind the warrant.  In extreme circumstances, you can ask the court to find you indigent and allow you to do community service at a non profit, non religious, non political charitable organization.  If you are asking for a court to find you indigent, it is important to bring documentation to support your claim you are indigent.  Tax returns, pay stubs, or proof that you receive government assistance can help prove to the court that you are indigent. You can also get jail credit applied to these tickets if you have been to jail while these warrants were active – even if it is was not holding you or you were not arrested on these warrants specifically.  How much credit a day in jail will give you depends on the court.

It is easier by far to take care of warrants prior to hearing the knock on your door.  At that point, your only option will be to pay the ticket or go to jail for several hours or even a few days depending on the jurisdiction.  Don’t wait for that to happen. If you would like to speak with me regarding your Class C warrants, I am happy to do a free phone consultation to run down what your options are. 

Why you should go to court on Class C misdemeanors

Why you should always keep your court dates:  a series in three parts 

The consequences of failing to appear on Class C misdemeanors

It is common in my work to come across clients who have outstanding warrants on Class C misdemeanors.  Class C misdemeanors are the lowest level of misdemeanors in Texas; they are punishable by fine only and not jail.  They include minor criminal offenses like Public Intoxication and Possession of Drug Paraphrenalia and all traffic offenses like speeding and failure to yeild right of way.

When you receive a citation or “ticket” for a Class C misdemeanor, you will get a court date on that citation for when you should either appear or contact the court and ask for options on how to resolve the case.  If you wish to speak with a prosecutor about the case, which is a better option often times than simply pleading no contest and paying the fine, as I have explained elsewhere, you will get another court date on which to appear. 

If you do not appear or make arrangements with the court to reolve the matter, there will be consequences that can adversely affect your life. 

First, you will be charged with a second Class C misdmeanor of “Failure to Appear”.  This is a negative consequence as it will be yet another citation you will have to resolve with the court.  It may cost you more money as you may have to pay an additional fine. 

Second, warrants will be issued for your arrest.  If you ever have an encounter with law enforcement in that jurisdiction, you may be arrested on these warrants even though they are Class C misdemeanors.  You may spend some time in jail on these charges even though they are not punishable by jail time.  You may eventually be released with a court date or you may be ordered to “sit out” the fines if you plead guilty at magistration.

Now, these are the most obvious of the consequences.  There are more that are far more obscure and less publicized and may surprise you. 

If these tickets – both the original citation and the failure to appear – are entered in the OMNI database, you will be refused the ability to renew your driver’s license and register your vehicle, which could lead to more criminal citations like DWLI and expired registration.  You will have to resolve these citations before you are allowed to renew your driver’s license and registation.

Resolving these citations may be more difficult if they get “old”.   Fees, such as collection fees, may drive up what you owe.  You will also be charged warrant and OMNI fees -- $50 warrant fee and $30 OMNI fee per ticket for a total of $80 – that must be paid when the tickets are resolved.  You will often not be allowed to negotiate the fines and fees if the tickets are “old” and are in the OMNI database and/or are in collections.  You will not be allowed a deferral.  You will have to pay the amounts in full.  The only way around this is to hire an attorney to post bonds and get these cases back on the docket, which will cost you money.

It may seem like it is the best solution to just ignore your citations.  You may feel like you don’t have the money to take care of them or the time.  However, avoidance of the citations will lead to the situation getting much worse.  If you cannot afford to pay a citation, you can perhaps ask for community service in leiu of payment.  Don’t just put your head in the sand and expect the ctiations to go away – they won’t. 

If you are struggling with outstanding warrants on Class C violations, OMNI holds, and the like, I am here to help.  I can usually save clients money and time, and get them out of the morass of unpaid tickets.  But what is even better is to take care of ctiations in a timely manner so you don’t need someone like me to fix it after it’s become an unsolvable problem.