Areas of Practice

Recalling Bench Warrants

Wallin & Klarich specializes in Los Angeles Criminal Law cases, if you need an Orange County Criminal Lawyer, call today. Bench warrants are just that, a warrant issued by the bench or the Judge of the Court.

The following are examples of why bench warrants are issued:

A Judge will issue a bench warrant for failure to appear in Court ("FTA") when you have promised to do so. The bench warrant is then entered into the Department of Justice computer system. If you are stopped by a police officer, a systems check by your California driver's license number will reveal the warrant and you will be arrested and brought before the Court. You will typically be denied bail when you have failed to appear on prior occasions.

A Judge will issue a bench warrant for failure to pay a fine. Again, if you are stopped by a police officer, he will locate the warrant in the system and you can be arrested and brought before a Judge.

If the case is a misdemeanor, an attorney from our office will appear on your behalf, with your permission and you may not have to be present. The bench warrant will be recalled, our attorney will arraign you on the charges that are pending and set a pre-trial date to discuss your case with the District Attorney. Having one of our attorney's handle this for you can eliminate the Judge taking you into custody.

If the case is a felony, you must be present with our attorney in order to recall the bench warrant. When the warrant is recalled in front of the Judge, he may want you to post bail since you have shown him that you will not appear on your written promise. Our attorney's will attempt to keep you from being taken into custody. If the Judge insists on bail, we can argue for a reduction. In addition, we work with several Bail Bond agencies and we can have them available immediately to work with you on posting the bail. Usually we will have this all set up prior to recalling the warrant if we feel the Judge will demand you post bail.

Consequences of having a bench warrant issued:

Your license can be suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV"). Once the FTA is cleared, you will have to pay a fee to get an abstract from the clerk of the court. An abstract is a document issued by the clerk of the court and submitted to DMV to show proof of that the FTA is cleared. Until the FTA is cleared, by recalling the bench warrant and an abstract is issued by the clerk and taken to DMV, your license will be suspended. DMV may also charge you a fee to reinstate your license.

Failure to pay fines can also cause a problem with DMV. This is because they can suspend your driver's license until the fine is paid in full. Once the fine is paid, you will again have to pay a fee for an abstract. The abstract must then be taken to DMV to show proof that the fine has been paid. Again, DMV may require a fee to be paid before they reinstate your license.

There have been several cases in which our attorney's have recalled bench warrant's successfully without having our client's taken into custody or having to post bail. The advantages of having a Wallin & Klarich attorney recall your bench warrant is that we have an attorney that is familiar with each Court. That means that they are in that Court on a regular basis and they know that Court procedures.

Chances are if you go into Court and try to explain why you failed to appear or failed to pay the fine, the Judge will not want to hear your excuses and may take you into custody. Call Wallin & Klarich to help you with any warrant that may have been issued for your arrest.

At Wallin & Klarich, we approach every case with the belief that the person we're defending could easily be one of our own family members. We've seen firsthand how stressful legal matters can be for our clients and their loved ones. We are committed to being available to our clients at all times -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If you or someone you love is facing a DMV matter in Southern California, you should call Wallin & Klarich today for a free evaluation of your case. Call 1-888-782-5196 or fill out our online consultation form to get in contact with a legal professional today. We will be there when you call.

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