What happens when I miss my traffic court date?

By Jeffrey R. Hall, of Hall & Rustom, LLC.

Many times, clients contact us after they've missed their first appearance date on their traffic ticket.  They wonder if a warrant will issue for their arrest and they are terrified. 

Not to worry!  We'll try to give a detailed breakdown of the process as to what happens after you miss your court appearance.  You'll find that you will likely NOT have a warrant issued for your arrest; however, there are still serious consequences that you will want to keep in mind.  This article only addressed the process for citations issued in Illinois. 

These consequences depend on the county for which you received the ticket. Usually, if you forget about a ticket, it NEVER simply goes away.  Illinois law commands the circuit clerks of each county to forward information regarding your failure to appear to the Illinois Secretary of State.  Once they receive the notice you failed to appear, the Secretary of State will suspend your driving privileges until you resolve the ticket.

Instead of breaking down how each county handles your ticket, I'll explain generally what happens behind the scenes.

First, once you are ticketed, you should determine if the ticket requires you to appear in court.  For most speeding tickets and other minor petty traffic offenses, such as improper lane usage, improper turn signal, failure to yield, etc., a court appearance is NOT required.  Nevertheless, you must still respond to the court in some method.  On the back of your ticket, it typically provides instructions on how to resolve the ticket.  We caution you to simply pay the ticket and be done with it.  This is important and here's why:

If you simply pay the ticket over the counter or through the mail, you are essentially pleading guilty to the offense and a final adjudication of guilt will be recorded against you and a conviction will enter.  That means points will be assigned against your driver's license. 

• If you are under 21, you are only entitled to ONE moving violation conviction on your record in a 2 YEAR period.  If you receive two moving violation convictions in a 2 year period, your driving privileges will be suspended for a period not to exceed 1 year.  Depending on the severity of the ticket, such as speeding 21-30 mph over the limit, your driving privileges will likely be suspended between 6 months to 1 year.  If you receive a minor traffic violation, such as speeding 1-20 mph over the limit, your driving privileges will likely be suspended for 3-6 months.

• If you are 21 and over, you are entitled to TWO moving violation convictions on your record in a 1 YEAR period.  If you receive THREE moving violation convictions on your record in a 1 YEAR period, your driving privileges will be suspended for a period not to exceed 1 year.  Again, depending on the severity of the ticket, such as speeding 21-30 mph over the limit, your driving privileges will likely be suspended between 6 months to 1 year.  If you receive a minor traffic violation, such as speeding 1-20 mph over the limit, your driving privileges will likely be suspended for 3-6 months. 

It is recommended that you obtain a printout of your driving record (abstract) from your local DMV to determine what moving violations are actually on your record.  The record may be difficult to read so it is recommended that you consult an experienced traffic attorney to read your record to determine what effect, if any, will result from your present traffic citation.

Now, back to your court date.  Once your name is called in open court and you do not answer, the prosecutors will generally write on the file "Defendant Failed to Appear. Ex Parte Judgment issued."  They will present the file to the judge and the judge will sign.  Essentially, the court is taking judgment against you in your absence.  Thus, a conviction will enter against you.

However, if the ticket is not a petty traffic offense, but rather, a traffic misdemeanor, such as Driving While License Suspended, the court will usually issue a warrant.  Make sure you do not miss your court date if your ticket is for a misdemeanor.

Once you realize you've missed your court date, you will likely have to vacate the conviction against you if you want to "undo" the conviction that was entered by the court in your absence.  Here is where an attorney can be effective for you.  Your attorney will draft the motion to vacate, set it for hearing, then negotiate the terms of the citation with the prosecutors so the punishment against you will be as minimal as possible.  Prosecutors will look at your record as well.  If you have a poor driving record, the prosecutors may object to vacate the conviction against you.  However, if it has not been more than 30 days since you missed your court date (or the judge signed the "ex parte" judgment against you), the court will likely reopen the case against you.  If it is beyond 30 days since you missed your court date, it is harder to get your case reopened since you are beyond your "30 day Appeal" window.  On these tickets, time is of the essence to act responsibly.  That is why it is important to consult an attorney to assist you.

Your attorney can then negotiate the terms of the ticket.  We always ask for some type of disposition that will not affect your driving record, such as dispositions resulting in court supervision.  

What is Court Supervision in Illinois?  Court supervision is NOT a final adjudication of guilt.  The court is simply indirectly monitoring your behavior during a set period of time (not to exceed 1 year on petty offenses and 2 years for misdemeanor offenses).  If you abide by the terms of your court supervision (pay your fines and costs, complete any public service hours, attend the driver improvement course, not violate any law of any jurisdiction, etc), your case will close at the end of the period of supervision and NO CONVICTION will be entered.

You will typically be assessed fines and court costs.  Thus, so long as you pay the fines and court costs within your time limit given and you do not violate any other laws of any jurisdiction, the ticket will not affect your driver's license.

In conclusion, if you miss your court date, do not fret.  Simply print out a copy of your driving record at your local DMV and contact an experienced traffic attorney to assist you.  The conviction is not set in stone and if you act quickly, your attorney can undo the damage your absence caused.

It should be noted that some counties will not issue an ex parte judgment against you.  They will simply send out a 30 day notice to you that if you do not pay the ticket within 30 days, they will forward a "Failure to Pay Notice" to the Illinois Secretary of State (SOS).  Once the SOS receives the notice, they will suspend your driving privileges until you pay the ticket and they receive the receipt from the clerk's office.  Remember, if your are suspended for not paying a traffic ticket, your driver's license will not automatically reinstate once you pay the ticket.  The SOS needs to receive confirmation that it was paid from the clerk's office.  This may take a few days AFTER you pay the ticket.


If you have further questions, please visit our website at www.centralillinoislawyers.com and complete our online submission form. Or, you can call our office at 309-699-4691 or email us at how@howlawfirm.com.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form nor should the reader rely on the information listed above as true in all circumstances. This information is provided generally and any similarity between the information listed above and an individual reader's case is purely coincidental.

The attorneys at Hall & Rustom LLC represent clients throughout the entire state of Illinois, including, but not limited to, the cities of Peoria, Morton, Washington, Pekin, Eureka, East Peoria, Dunlap, Metamora, Bartonville, Bloomington, Normal and any legal matter located in Peoria County, Tazewell County, Woodford County, Marshall County, Stark County, Henry County, Knox County and McLean County.

Article Author: Jeffrey R. Hall

Jeff Hall is managing partner at Hall & Rustom, LLC and concentrates his law practice in Criminal Law, DUI & Traffic law, driver's license reinstatement hearings and criminal record expungements.

If you have a legal question, email Jeff Hall.