Q: I was giving a amount to pay but I missed my second traffic court date what should I do now
A: Contact the Clerk of Court right away and make it to the courthouse to see the judge ASAP.
A:
Hello Asker,
In this situation, it appears that you had what is known as a return date or reporting date where you were required to appear in court to show compliance with the fine. In these situations, it depends on the county. In some counties, the court date is only applicable if you haven't already paid at least two weeks prior to the court date. In these counties, the court date is stricken or removed once full compliance with the terms of the case are satisfied. In these situations, no court appearance is required.
In other counties, court appearances to show compliance are mandatory REGARDLESS of whether the terms have been met. In these counties, the court date is a required part of your sentence. Failure to appear on that day may result in the court attempting to resentence you on your case, particularly if you did not comply with all the terms (completing traffic school, doing community service, paying fines, etc). If you complied with the terms, they MAY choose to forgive your absence. In my experience, most times this happens, the court resentences persons on supervision to conviction for these instances and keeps the fines and other terms the same. In some cases, the court sets a new court date for later resentencing effectively giving you another chance to show up to court. You can find out what happened by calling the clerk of the circuit court of the county you were in and asking what happened on that court date. Usually they update these things about 3 business days later.
If you were resentenced, you can seek to file a motion to fix the issue and undo the resentencing. An attorney can assist in this and it is a routine practice for many who practice traffic law. There is usually a fee but fortunately, assuming all terms of the sentence are completed, this is something that can often be fixed.
I hope that helps and let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jason A. Wilkins
Traffic Attorney
(630) 445-2293
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