If you are like most people, your time and schedule can feel pretty limited. While it’s easy to understand how important it is to keep your court date, things come up that can put a snag in your plans. You may be faced with work, school, family obligations or any number of other things that may make it hard for you to get to the courthouse on time and ready for your hearing. If getting out of a court date is a stressful situation for you, read on to find out some strategies and solutions that will help ease the stress and keep you out of trouble. Whether your excuse is valid or not is irrelevant when dealing with the law. Depending on the circumstances of your case, being late or missing a court date can have serious consequences. Read below to learn more about the importance of keeping scheduled appearances before a judge and some scenarios that may qualify you for getting out of your court date.
How To Get Out Of A Court Date Last Minute
Work or School Issues
If your work schedule or school doesn’t allow you to get to the courthouse on time, contact your court as soon as possible and inform them of the situation. This will give them time to make arrangements for your case. If you are late for a hearing because of a scheduled meeting at work or school, contact the court clerk before going into the meeting and inform them that you will be late but do plan on attending. Then, as soon as you are finished with your meeting, contact the court clerk again and let them know that you will be running behind schedule. They should be able to help you out in getting out of a court date if they need more time to prepare for your appearance or if they have other cases scheduled after yours.
Family Issues
If an unexpected family emergency arises that requires your attention, contact the court immediately and let them know what has happened so they can reschedule your hearing accordingly. You should call even if it is extremely short notice because sometimes people who have legitimate excuses aren’t able to get through to a judge right away and may be considered skipping their hearing by default. If this happens, it could lead to serious consequences like arrest warrants being issued for you or having additional charges added to your case file with no chance of getting out of them without appearing in front of a judge personally.
Health Issues
If there is an emergency with one of your family members such as a medical emergency or a death in the family, call the court immediately and inform them of your situation. Depending on the severity of the emergency, they may be able to reschedule your hearing for you. However, if you are unable to make it to your court date due to a medical emergency that requires you to stay home, contact the court and tell them that you will be unable to attend. The judge should understand your situation and give you an extension for no-shows.
Mental Health Issues
If you are suffering from mental health issues, contact the court as soon as possible and let them know that it is affecting your ability to make it to scheduled hearings. If this is an emergency situation, such as a severe panic attack or another mental breakdown that requires in-patient treatment, let them know what is going on so they can work with you on getting out of your hearing without having additional charges added to your case file or other serious consequences associated with skipping a court date.
Military Deployment
If you are a member of the military who has been called away for duty or training at the last minute, contact the court immediately and inform them of what has happened so they can reschedule your appearance accordingly. This will help ensure that when you return from duty or training there are no additional charges added to your case file because of missing scheduled hearings while away on duty. It will also keep any arrest warrants from being issued for failing to appear before a judge in person during your absence.
Jail Time
If you are in jail and have a court date, contact the court and let them know that you will be unable to make it to your hearing date. If this is a situation where you have been charged with an additional crime for failing to appear in court due to being incarcerated, the judge should understand your situation and give you an extension for no-shows. If this is not the case and you are facing time behind bars for missing your scheduled court date, let the judge know that you will be unable to make it out of jail on time or at all due to circumstances beyond your control such as being incarcerated. The judge should understand your situation and consider giving you an extension for no-shows if they feel it is warranted under the circumstances.
Illness/Injury
If there is an illness or injury that prevents someone from attending their court appearance, contact the court immediately and let them know how serious of an issue it is so they can reschedule their appearance accordingly. Many judges will grant extensions for no-shows when there are serious medical issues involved because they understand that sometimes people just can’t make it out of bed in time if they were scheduled to appear at 9 am. However, if this isn’t the case with your case file and there are legitimate reasons why you couldn’t attend a scheduled hearing due to illness or injury without facing consequences such as arrest warrants being issued or additional charges being filed against you, then inform the judge of this situation so they can make an exception to their rules and allow you to appear at the next available court date.
Other
If you have any other reasons for missing a court appearance, let the judge know what they are so they can make a decision on whether or not they will take them into consideration while deciding whether or not to grant you an extension for no-shows. If the judge decides that these circumstances don’t qualify as legitimate reasons for missing your scheduled court date without facing consequences, then inform them that you will be unable to attend your upcoming hearing date due to circumstances beyond your control such as being incarcerated or stationed in another country for military training. The judge might decide that granting you an extension for no-shows is warranted under the circumstances if they feel it is appropriate because it would help ensure that when you return from duty or training there are no additional charges filed against you because of missing scheduled hearings while away on duty.
Why Is It Important To Keep Your Scheduled Court Date?
It’s the Law
If you show up to your court date, then you are in violation of the law. If you miss a court date without receiving any additional charges against you, then this will be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to file additional charges against you. If there are no more charges pending against you, then this will be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to issue a warrant for your arrest.
It’s a Good Sign of Honesty
It is very important that people follow their court dates because it shows the judge that you are a responsible person who takes your responsibilities seriously and has no problem following through with what they have asked of you. This is especially true for people who have been convicted of crimes and are on probation or parole but still show up for their scheduled court dates so they don’t lose their privileges such as being able to travel freely and live wherever they choose without having to check in with local police at their local station on a regular basis. If people can’t make it out of bed in time for an appearance at 9 am, then how are these same individuals supposed to make it out of bed in time to check in with police officers on a regular basis?
It’s Good for Your Credit Score
Missing a court date won’t cause your credit score any harm because all it takes is one missed date before new information becomes available and this new information can be used by credit bureaus to lower your credit score if you have trouble paying your bills. If the credit bureau uses this information to lower your credit score, then it will be easier for you to get a loan or mortgage in the future because it will show that you are responsible enough to pay your bills on time.
It’s Good for Your Reputation
As already mentioned, missing a court date won’t cause your credit score any harm because all it takes is one missed date before new information becomes available and this new information can be used by credit bureaus to lower your credit score if you have trouble paying your bills. If the credit bureau uses this information to lower your credit score, then it will be easier for you to get a loan or mortgage in the future because it will show that you are responsible enough to pay your bills on time.
It Won’t Hurt Your Case
Missing a court date won’t hurt your case because all it takes is one missed date before new information becomes available and this new information can be used by credit bureaus to lower your credit score if you have trouble paying your bills. If the credit bureau uses this information to lower your credit score, then it will be easier for you to get a loan or mortgage in the future because it will show that you are responsible enough to pay your bills on time.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to missing a court date, the only thing you can do is be honest about the situation. The court has no reason to believe that you didn’t have legitimate reasons for missing your court date and is unlikely to simply let you off the hook. If you have a valid excuse for missing your court date, you should be prepared to provide documentation such as police reports, doctor’s notes, and other verification for your reasons for missing the hearing. If you are unable to make it to your court date, make sure you communicate with the court as soon as possible. It is always important to let the court know if you will be missing a court date. The judge may be willing to reschedule your hearing if you contact them as soon as you realize you won’t be able to attend your scheduled court date.
