Oklahoma- Bench warrant for f.t.a. for traffic ticket

[cgregory]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma (Norman)

Back story:
Roughly a year ago I received a traffic ticket for speeding (I believe 55 in a 40). I understand this was extremely stupid, but I never paid it nor showed up to court—I had several personal issues come up and basically forgot about the court date until much later (I know that's not a good excuse.. It's just what happened), so I have a bench warrant for failure to appear on top of the initial ticket.

Question:
Yesterday, I finally called the municipal court to try to take care of it and they told me it costs approx $400 more to pay over the phone rather than in person (about $650 vs "over a $1000" respectively). I can understand them charging somewhat more, but that much scares me. Basically I'm wondering if they were trying to persuade me to come in so they can get me for the warrant? Or does that sound like a relatively common price difference for paying in person versus over the phone? I mean I know a person who had a warrant (in a different city) for failure to appear for his ticket. He went in and paid it without any problems, but I just want to make sure.

I think I'm probably just being paranoid about it, but if anyone has any insight or advice on the best course of action I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Many years ago in OH a friend did the same thing. When she had money to pay the ticket, she called the court and arranged an appearance. It was no big deal. The judge asked her why she had FTA'd and why she took so long to remedy. He gave her a final fine judgement, no jail time or community service.

 

[dave33]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma (Norman)

Back story:
Roughly a year ago I received a traffic ticket for speeding (I believe 55 in a 40). I understand this was extremely stupid, but I never paid it nor showed up to court—I had several personal issues come up and basically forgot about the court date until much later (I know that's not a good excuse.. It's just what happened), so I have a bench warrant for failure to appear on top of the initial ticket.

Question:
Yesterday, I finally called the municipal court to try to take care of it and they told me it costs approx $400 more to pay over the phone rather than in person (about $650 vs "over a $1000" respectively). I can understand them charging somewhat more, but that much scares me. Basically I'm wondering if they were trying to persuade me to come in so they can get me for the warrant? Or does that sound like a relatively common price difference for paying in person versus over the phone? I mean I know a person who had a warrant (in a different city) for failure to appear for his ticket. He went in and paid it without any problems, but I just want to make sure.

I think I'm probably just being paranoid about it, but if anyone has any insight or advice on the best course of action I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I can't understand why it would be such a big difference.
Never heard of anything like that.

Maybe the difference would be a warrant fee that get's dropped if
you appear in person?

Pretty tough town to issue a warrant on a traffic ticket. If this is the case
you should be able to pay it without incident.