What should I do about a warrant for failure to appear?
Question Details:I have a FTA bench warrant from 2003 in WA. I've lived in OK since 2003 and since never received a letter or a phone call about it. I just found out today. There's no way I can go back and appear before a judge to tell them why I haven't answered my summons. What should I do?
You need to hire an attorney in the area where the warrant was issued. They can best utilize their local contacts to your best advantage and help sort all of this out. However, you should be prepared to go back - you will have to appear. If you don't, obviously they won't pursue you for this, but it will turn up in employment background checks until you get this cleared up. Additionally, if you are stopped for even a simple traffic violation you can be taken into custody. Depending on the seriousness of the offense you could be extradited back to WA; even if you aren't and are released, it could happen all over again any time that you may be stopped by the police (speeding, minor car accident, etc). The sooner you take care of this the sooner you can have peace of mind.
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