Q: If I missed my second court date for no insurance will I lose court supervision?

A: It's possible that the judge will revoke the supervision and issue a stricter punishment. You should never miss a court date whether it is criminal or civil. The best thing you can do now is to show up at the next hearing and explain how you mixed up the times. Having an attorney represent you would be advisable as well. And make sure you have your proof of insurance. It would be good if you could show that you obtained insurance very shortly after the first hearing so it looks like you complied with the judge's order.

Best of luck.

A: Hello Asker,

First, you must ascertain what judgment the court made. The most likely culprit is something called a petition to revoke. This is a VERY serious event as it can precipitate the revocation of your supervision. The danger here is that a conviction for operating an uninsured motor vehicle results in a mandatory insurance suspension when reported to the secretary of state. This will result in a 3 or 6 month suspension with the potential for a much higher fine as they can resentence you. Ordinarily, these fines are around $1000-$2000.

Second, you should immediately contact an attorney. Depending on whether your case was a local prosecution or state prosecution, the window for bringing in back into court may vary in its restrictiveness. In some cases, court is convened once a month making timing very important when it comes to resolving this case favorably. Whatever happens, your attorney will likely need to file a motion to vacate whatever action was taken on the date of your action and quickly. As we speak, a license suspension is likely being processed.

Third, you should contact the secretary of state and ensure you have an updated address on file. This will ensure you receive notices from them indicating any pending suspensions and prevent you from driving on a suspended license. To confirm or deny your suspension status, you should use the 24 hour automated system available for checking license statuses with the secretary of state.

Finally, you should speak to your insurance provider about SR-22. If you received court supervision, it was a requirement that you maintain SR-22 for a period of 36 months continuously. Failure to do so will result in a suspension until it is resolved. Absent a dismissal of the insurance ticket, this ticket will EITHER suspend you or require carrying SR-22 so be conscious that it is a requirement of ANY court supervision order whether stated in court or not.

If you have any questions, please feel free to respond.

Sincerely,

Jason A. Wilkins

Attorney at Law