Failure to Appear

Our Clearwater bail bond agency can help when a warrant is issued for your arrest

If you fail to appear for a case involving a criminal offense, whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony or a traffic offense, several things will occur. A bench warrant or capias will be issued for your arrest. You can be charged with a felony direct information file failure-to-appear as well. In Florida, failing to appear for court is serious and will cause more problems and result in very serious consequences.

When you are arrested and incarcerated for a crime, you will be released from jail in one of three ways:

Number One - Based on your previous legal history, seriousness of the crime at hand, employment, background and other factors, the judge may allow you to be released on your own recognizance, or ROR. This does not mean that you are no longer in trouble and the charges go away. You will be monitored by the courts and will have certain stipulations of your release that you must continue. The court will require you to regularly check-in by telephone or report to a pre-trial release officer. You will be carefully monitored.

Number Two - You or your loved one may post a cash bond at the county jail. If you post a cash bond you are subject to lose the whole bond if you fail to appear.

Number Three - You may go through a licensed Florida surety agent or bail bondsman like Integrity Bail Bonds, and pay 10% of the face value or total penal sum of the bond. By Florida statutes, a surety, or bail bond agent has several options if a client fails to appear. They will begin to locate and apprehend you. They may also attempt to force you, or whoever signed the bail bond, (the indemnitor or co-signer) to pay the full bond amount of the surety bail bond. This may get the bail bondsman off your back, but it will not solve your problems and is not the ethical way of doing things. It is also not viewed favorably by the courts. The right way or the "Integrity way" is to bring the defendant before the court and request that the judge lift or squash the warrant or capias. If the judge grants this request then the surety agent can file a motion to have the surety bond reinstated. Florida statue 903.26 states that the court shall discharge a forfeiture within 60 days upon surrender or arrest of the defendant if the delay has not thwarted the proper prosecution of the defendant.

Using a licensed Clearwater bail bondsman protects you from the risk of losing money

In short, to hire a bail bond surety agent who is ethical and knows the law will help you if something goes wrong or you accidentally fail to make your court date proceeding. It also helps to hire a bail bondsman who knows people within the clerk of court or, the state attorneys office or, public defenders office - someone who they work with regularly and who respect and admire them. Because if you make a mistake of failing to appear, your next move may land you in prison or, have the judge forgive your error without prejudice and resolve you situation has favorable as possible. Trust Clearwater’s leading bail bonds company - Integrity bail Bonds.