Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers

Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers help you fight criminal charges in Texas courts.

Call Us Free Legal Consultation

888-205-9314

  • Home
  • Texas Criminal Laws & Penalties
  • Texas Criminal Procedures
    • Assault
    • Burglary
    • Criminal Mischief / Arson
    • Disorderly Conduct
    • Domestic Assault Laws
    • Drug Delivery
    • Drug Possession
    • Drug Possession – Cocaine
    • Drug Possession – Heroin
    • Drug Possession – Marijuana
    • Drug Possession – Methamphetamine
    • DWI Laws
    • DWI – 2nd Offense
    • DWI – Occupational License
    • Embezzlement
    • Failure to Appear / Bail Jumping
    • Fraud
    • Harassment
    • Hit and Run
    • Robbery
    • Reckless Driving
    • Suspended License
    • Sex Offenses
    • Theft
    • Violation of a Protective Order
    • Weapons Charges
  • About the Attorneys
    • Disclaimer / Privacy
  • Blog

Nearly 2 Million Warrants Criminal Warrants Outstanding in Houston, TX Area

August 18, 2009


According to this article from the Houston Chronicle, there are currently about 1.7 million warrants outstanding in the metro area. Luckily, the majority of these warrants are for simple Class C misdemeanor cases, not dangerous offenders.

However, this is an astronomical number of unserved warrants taking up space. So, how did this get to be such a problem?

Well, when you are charged with a Class C misdemeanor, you must appear for court. Missing your court date results in a warrant being taken out on your original charge (or charges) plus typically an additional Failure To Appear warrant. It is easy to see how most of the people with a warrant out, have more than one in their name.

These outstanding warrants are valued at approximately $300 million that would go to the city when collected. Getting a warrant served and actually collecting on fees are two completely different things, however.

Typically, a Class C misdemeanor is only punishable by a fine. This could be why so many people disregard their court date, thinking it won’t be a serious matter.

However, a failure to appear charge will increase that Class C misdemeanor fine by up to an additional $500. If your original charge was a more serious classification, you could be looking at additional jail time for failing to appear.

The Chronicle explains that when police do a warrant sweep or attempt to catch up on the backlog of active warrants, they start with the most serious offenders first. For this reason, the smaller Class C warrants are typically the last ones served and often not served until the offender is pulled over or has another contact with the police.

And the likelihood of getting caught and pulled over will only increase as more and more license plate scanners are deployed by Texas State Troopers.

When up against any criminal charges, your first reaction may be to ignore it in hopes it will go away. However ignoring the charges will only exacerbate your long term consequences. Dealing with the warrant is typically the best answer.

If you know you have active warrants out for your arrest now and aren’t sure how to go about handling them, call me today. Together we can discuss your options.

Please Share!Share on Facebook0Tweet about this on TwitterShare on Reddit0Buffer this pageEmail this to someone

Filed Under: criminal law, criminal record

Free Consultation

Contact our attorneys for a free legal case evaluation on any criminal charge by calling:

888-205-9314


Receive our free legal defense consultation and case evaluation. We'll explain what you are facing in plain language, and tell you how we can help.
Copyright © 2023 Get Lawyer Leads, Inc.
THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT. This is not a law firm or referral service and does not provide legal advice. This is a free matching service only, claim reviews will be performed by a third party attorney. An attorney-client relationship is not formed when you submit the form and you are under no obligation to retain a lawyer who contacts you through this service. Services are not available in all states.