Traffic Violation Warrant for Failure to appear

[wendys8861]

My hubby recently got a ticket for driving with parking lights (new car, thought lights were on). At the time, the officer found out that my hubby has a warrant from 1993 for failure to appear for a traffic infraciton but the officer couldn't verify any information on it and let my husband go.

My husband did not have a car at that time so he's unsure what this is about. We are scheduled to go to court in October. Is there a way to find out what this warrant is for before we go to court? Do warrants ever expire? Can we expect to pay fines and interest for 15 years? Please advise!

Thanks for your info.

 

[CdwJava]

Warrants do not expire. They exist until recalled by the court or until they are served.

There should not be interest for 15 years, but there will be penalties for not paying the fine originally.

Is the court date for the warrant? Or for the other infraction concerning the parking lights? If for the lights, they are not likely to deal with the warrant at that hearing.

If he wants to find out more about the warrant, he should probably hire an attorney who can research it. Alternatively, he can go to the court and ask about it ... and hope they do not arrest him there.

- Carl

 

[mightymoose]

He should have received a citation that indicated the charge on the warrant. As mentioned above, a trip to the PD or the court might get you a copy of the warrant and you can cross-check the info on it. It could be someone else by the same name. There is a good chance that although the warrant was still active the original citation is long gone... and on top of that the officer that issued the citation is unlikely to be around to testify... so unless you voluntarily pay the fine you can probably get out of it even if it is his warrant.