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I'm Afraid I'll Be Jailed for My Unpaid Ticket

  • If you have a warrant issued for your arrest, you could be arrested anytime when going about your daily life.
    • However, you should not be arrested on a warrant in a fine-only case while in court trying to resolve what you owe.
  • If you're arrested, you will usually be booked into a county or city jail until you are able to see a judge.
    • In large counties, this will usually happen quickly, maybe a matter of hours, but in some places, you could be held up to 48 hours before seeing a judge.
  • For every 24 hours you spend in jail, whether it’s waiting to see a judge or after you see a judge, you should be given at least $100 of credit towards your unpaid fines.
    • A judge has the discretion to give you more than $100 a night if they want to do so.
  • When you see a judge, ask for a court-appointed lawyer.
    • It’s very unlikely you’ll be appointed one, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
  • What happens next depends on the type of warrant and which judge you see:
    • If you’ve previously failed to appear and are brought before the court that issued the warrant, the judge may ask you to enter a plea on the original charge.
    • You could also just be ordered to return to the court that issued the warrant at a later date.
      • Usually you will be asked to sign a personal bond before you are released. This is a promise to appear in court and to pay a certain amount of money if you don’t appear at that later date.
      • If a judge or other court staff says you are required to pay a money bond just to get out of jail, explain that you cannot pay. You cannot be forced to pay a money bond in a fine-only case if you are unable to pay the bond amount.
  • You should never be sentenced to more jail time (sometimes called “sitting out” or “laying out” fines) UNLESS the judge has determined that your nonpayment was willful -- meaning intentional or purposeful.
    • This means the judge can only sentence you to jail after making a finding that:
      • you had the ability to pay but refused to do so OR
      • if you’ve been sentenced to perform community service in lieu of paying, that you had the ability to perform the community service without undue hardship but failed to do so.
    • Explain to the judge that your failure to pay was not willful.
      • Tell the judge how much money you make, how many children you have and any other people in your household who depend on your income, and your biggest expenses.
      • Tell the judge how much you have left over at the end of your paycheck, and how difficult it would be to give that money to the court.
      • Tell the judge if you get benefits like TANF, SNAP, Medicaid/CHIP, Section 8 housing vouchers, SSI/SSDI, or free school lunches for your children.
    • If you’ve been arrested for failing to complete community service, explain to the judge that the court-ordered community service was a hardship.
      • Tell the judge that completing community service is a hardship.
      • Tell the judge about your job responsibilities, like how long it takes you to get to work and how many hours a week you have to work.
      • Tell the judge about what you need to do to take care of your family, like getting your kids to school and doctor’s appointments, feeding them, and watching them.
      • Tell the judge if there are times you cannot work for religious reasons.
    • If the judge finds you are unable to pay or that the community service was a hardship, the judge might revise your payment plan terms or give you more community service, and then release you.
    • If the judge decides that your failure to pay the fine was “willful” (you had enough money but simply refused to pay), the judge might order you to stay in jail as a way of paying off your remaining fines and costs. If this happens, you must be given credit of at least $100 per night.