Warrants for arrest in DUI cases are normally issued for failures to appear on designated Court dates or for a violation of DUI probation. The warrant for failure to appear is clear. If you fail to appear, the Court issues a warrant for your arrest, forfeits any bail posted and sets a new bail amount. If you have retained an attorney, that attorney can appear without you. The second type of warrant is for probation violations, once a case is resolved, proof of completion of a requirement must be filed by a deadline date. Failure to have the proof filed with the Court on time triggers a warrant for arrest. There can also be probation violations if any terms of the probation are violated, like an arrest in a new case or other violation of a Court order in the case.
Probation in a DUI case among other things requires attending a DUI program and a Victim Impact panel, as well as fines, possible restitution, public work or custody. Even if you completed these terms, if proof is required to be filed and is not filed in time, a warrant will issue. Often individuals cannot understand why a warrant was issued in their case, especially if they did everything. The problem is filing of proof is required and if not done, then the Court assumes it was not completed and issues a warrant.
Clearing a warrant can be done by going back to Court and adding the case on calendar to show proof of completion of the item or asking the Court for an extension to complete it. Depending on the Court, it may take a week or more to get add-on Court date. The Court Clerk can also pull your file and advise you why there is a warrant and if you have completed item and have proof then that may be handled more quickly. An attorney can clear the warrant without you in most cases depending on the violation. One of the most common reasons for a warrant in a DUI case is failure to file proof of the Victim Impact Panel by the deadline.
It is important that you stay on top of the requirements of your probation and take note of deadline dates for filing completion of anything that was ordered to avoid the problems which come with a warrant for your arrest.