Failure to appear/bench warrant

[citizen76]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?
Colorado

I'm in a great deal of trouble over something that started out not too bad, and then avalanched into something far worse.

I was pulled over recently for having one of my rear brake lights being out. I didn't know at the time that it was out, but I sure do now. I didn't have insurance at the time, which I know is illegal in the state of Colorado. The officer issued me a ticket for the tail light as well as a date in court to prove that I had auto insurance (which I do not have).

I have Crohn's Disease, and had a very bad bout of it that landed me in the hospital, and I wasn't able to make the court date. I've never really been in any kind of trouble before at all, so I didn't think missing the court date was that big of a deal, and I'd missed court dates (for tickets similar to this one) in California before which I never got in trouble for. I called up the municipal court after returning home to find out I had a warrant out for my arrest (which is a bench warrant for a failure to appear in court, I'm assuming, after reading up more on it).

I am basically wondering what's likely going to happen if I go to court, if anyone knows. I would be happy to report to court, but I'm scared of being sent to jail. There is some sort of fine involved, and I'm unsure of how much it's going to cost... but I most likely don't have the money to cover it, as I've been out of work because I was in the hospital. I might be able to get my parents to help out though. If the fine (bond, i think?) is really a lot of money though, I might just be plain screwed, and if that's the case, do you think the court would let me do some sort of payment plan, or does it just not work that way?

I was also going to move back to California in another month or so, and if I don't get this taken care of, I suppose it might have to wait. I'm guessing I could become a fugitive of some sort for leaving the state while I have a bench warrant out for my arrest? I'm going to want to get a California driver's license again, so I'm guessing I won't be able to get one with this pending, either.

I don't think they've made a judgement on my case yet, as the person I talked to on the phone said I could plead guilty or not guilty. I'm also kinda confused why no one has come to pick me up at my house, since I gave the officer my current address at the time of the ticket, and it's been a while (a little more than a week) since the warrant was placed upon me. Do they just not do that for something like this?

If it would help for me to tell which county this took place in, I will do so, as well as any other information you'd need. Any kind of advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm kinda freaking out and wondering what I should do. Thanks in advance.

[Edit] Also, is there any chance of my license not being suspended if I return to court and plead guilty? I'm not 100% on Colorado traffic law regarding driving without being insured.

[Edit#2] Okay, I did a bit more research. I am most likely going to appear in court, plead guilty, and deal with the fines and suspension (unless someone else more in the know recommends that I do otherwise) , but now I have another question regarding this. After this, I plan on moving back to California.

According to Colorado law as I understand it, for what I have committed, my license is suspended indefinitely until I can prove that I have a new insurance policy and pay a reinstatement fee. I could be totally wrong about this, but it's what I read, kinda hard getting the real facts from an up-to-date and reliable source.

So my problem is this... can I move to California, get my proof of insurance there, and then re-apply for a California license, or do I have to reinstate my Colorado license before California DMV will even consider me? I have had a California license in perfect standing before moving to Colorado. I don't want to have to wait around unneccesarily in Colorado after the Court date if I can handle things in California, is what I mean.

Maybe this thread has gone off topic a bit? Would it be better suited in a different forum perhaps? In any case, thanks for your time and anyone willing to offer advice.

[willitkeep]

if you move to california before you take care of this you can handle all of this through the mail and over the phone. It is not that big of a deal i dealt with a similar case between utah and oklahoma. It would benifit you to go ahead and go to california. do not listen to other people. if this is your first offense for failure to maintaine financial resp. (no Ins.), all you get is a fine. when you get to california get documents that prove that you were in the hospital. then go apply for cal. dl. the office in cal. cannot arrest you on a bench warrant from col. col. will not come get you because the offense is not serious enough. good luck.

[citizen76]

Thanks for the prompt reply. You've really saved me a lot of worry, and that helps quite a bit when you've got an illness like mine, it aggravates a lot when under stress.

Based on your reply and even more research (my stepsister was looking around last night and told me similar information to what you told me, and she lives in Cali) I will definitely be making the move to California and handling everything there. We were already under a lot of financial stress, and our family down there was willing to help us out, then I ran into this bad luck.

In any case, I'm going to be so happy after being able to kiss California soil once again. Thank you~!

Originally Posted by willitkeep

if you move to california before you take care of this you can handle all of this through the mail and over the phone. It is not that big of a deal i dealt with a similar case between utah and oklahoma. It would benifit you to go ahead and go to california. do not listen to other people. if this is your first offense for failure to maintaine financial resp. (no Ins.), all you get is a fine. when you get to california get documents that prove that you were in the hospital. then go apply for cal. dl. the office in cal. cannot arrest you on a bench warrant from col. col. will not come get you because the offense is not serious enough. good luck.

This of course is completely false and misleading information.

You will never be able to get a driver's license anywhere else and the next time you are stopped in CO, you will be going to jail.

Take care of it now before it gets any worse.

[citizen76]

seniorjudge, would you be able to tell me what is the true information?

I'm not going to be driving anymore until I get this taken care of and have a license in full working order. That was planned from the beginning. I won't be driving to Cali (most likely taking Greyhound), and I'm not driving right now either. The biggest thing I am worried about right now is being able to handle the case in California instead of Colorado. I've actually heard that this part could be done, both through people and from what I've read from official Municipal Court information through the Internet. In fact, I called the Municipal Court back and the lady on the phone said I would be able to correspond with them through the mail.

I suppose anything written or told could be misleading, however. If it's not too much trouble, could you or someone else speculate on this? Thanks again. You've all been very helpful.

Originally Posted by citizen76

seniorjudge, would you be able to tell me what is the true information?

I already did....