Illinois Arrest Warrants

There is a lot to get mad about when you’re pulled over by the police for a speeding ticket. You might dispute that you were driving above the limit. This incident could cause you to be late for an important appointment. And it will probably cost you a lot of money in fines.

In this momentary fit of rage, you could decide to form your own protest and refuse to pay the ticket. However noble your intentions might be, the result of that action could end up with an Illinois arrest warrant being sworn out in your name. That will be cause for major aggravation.

What triggers an arrest warrant?
An Illinois arrest warrant happens when an officer of the court goes before a judge with evidence suggesting you are a suspect in a criminal offense. This can happen as a result of forensic evidence being presented against you or by an eye witness account placing you at the scene of a particular crime.

Once an Illinois arrest warrant has been issued in your name, it becomes the direct responsibility of the local authorities to insure that you are arrested and brought before the judge to be arraigned.

What triggers a bench warrant?
That’s what happens for criminal charges but it can be just as serious with the traffic offenses mentioned above. When you have neglected a court order to pay a fine or appear before the court then an Illinois bench warrant is sworn out in your name. This can also be a failure to appear warrant. Both of these can result in your arrest.

The difference between these types of warrants and the arrest warrant is the level of threat that you might present. Clearly, if you have skipped out on paying a ticket or didn’t show up for traffic school they aren’t going to send out the SWAT team to bring you in. However, from the moment the Illinois bench warrant has been sworn out in your name it will be part of your government record until you clear up the matter.

So what do you do?
What does that mean? It means if you have a background check run by an employer they could discover the bench warrant before you do. It could mean that if you’re stopped for another ticket, you could be arrested on the spot. All of this means that if you have even had the smallest bit of business to do with the courts that wasn’t completely resolved, you run the risk of having an Illinois arrest warrant issued in your name.

Your best course of action would be to check any number of available internet data bases to make sure you’re clear. If you find an Illinois arrest warrant has been issued in your name then you are required to appear before the judge who issued the warrant. It’s best to do this in the company of an experience lawyer. Only then can you find a remedy and expunge the warrant from your record.