Dallas County Traffic Tickets And Traffic Warrants

First, lets understand what a warrant is. A warrant is a specific authorization, usually issued by a judge or magistrate, given to police or some other official body to make an arrest, search a premises, or otherwise carry out an action relating to the administration of justice.

There are two types of Dallas County warrants related to traffic arrests – Alias and Capias. Most folks don’t know the difference between the two warrants.

Alias Warrants

When you received a traffic ticket there will be a date on your ticket for you to either appear in court or contact the court to discuss your options. If you do not appear in court on the date listed and you do not contact the court prior to that date to take action on your options a warrant will be issued for your arrest.

Sometimes people forget and miss the court date. Sometimes people don’t understand they have options if they contact the court in time, and sometimes people just flat ignore the ticket altogether. Whatever the reason, if contact with the court isn’t made in a timely manner an alias warrant will be issued for your arrest. If you have an alias warrant, it can be lifted by paying the ticket and any related fees, or by posting a surety bond or by posting a cash bond.

Whether you choose to ignore the ticket or lose track of time and forget to handle your ticket, an alias warrant will be issued for your arrest. An alias warrant can be lifted either through a surety bond posted by an attorney or a cash bond which you post with the court. So long as your warrant is an alias, you can hire an attorney to lift the warrant and try to protect your record through a dismissal or deferred adjudication.

Capias Warrant

A capias warrant gets issued when you have made arrangements with the court to take care of your ticket and you fail to comply with the arrangement. For example: if you received a traffic ticket, contacted the court within the prescribed timeframe and set up a payment plan or agreed to take a defensive driving class but didn’t complete those requirements in the time allotted.

Here’s the major difference between a capias warrant and an alias warrant – once a capias warrant gets issued you no longer have the option to set up a second agreement, and an attorney can’t lift your warrants. At this point your choices are very limited. If you have not been arrested, then you’ll need to pay the total fine in order to keep from being arrested.

If you’ve been arrested then unfortunately you’ll need to either pay the total fee or sit out your ticket in jail. Yeah, it sucks, we know!

If you have alias warrants and want to handle them without being arrested, contact Southern Bail Bonds at 214-372-2500 NOW! We’re ready to help!