Understanding Warrant for Unpaid Court Order Fines
A common outcome of failure to pay court fines in Georgia or failure to pay court costs in Georgia is the issuance of an arrest warrant. This arrest warrant is NOT the same as a traditional criminal warrant where a police officer has probable cause to believe you have committed a crime and they are asking a judge for permission to arrest you based on an offense.
These warrants are for collection of a debt. Specifically, an arrest warrant for failure to pay court fines, or failure to pay court costs is often called a "warrant for failure to pay a fine." Your Fine Court Costs Have Not Been Paid could be the title of the warrant or bench warrant (bench warrant meaning court bench).
The language might also say "warrant for failure to pay a monetary sanction." Whatever its titled your arrest warrant is for failure to pay money , not for a criminal act.
A warrant for your arrest has been issued because you failed to appear in court or failed to pay court fines, or failed to pay your court costs. This is not a warrant issued for a criminal offense, although the end result may feel like a criminal offense. In other words if your case originates in city court, county court, municipal court or recorder’s court, and you fail to pay your fines or pay your costs, you can be arrested by the police similar to how you would be arrested if you had a felony bench warrant.
Failure to Pay Court Ordered Fines Results in Serious Consequences
Failure to Pay Court Fines: Consequences of Failing to Pay Court Fines
As we indicated, sometimes there are consequences when you ignore a court order to pay court fines. These are called warrants. These warrants are issued compelling the debtor to garnish wages or other property rights. When a court issues a garnishment order to another court, that other court will not have a hearing and will simply forward the money to the court issuing the garnishment order. These garnishment orders very often catch people by surprise. It may happen that the defendant in the original court action goes to the bank and finds that the bank has taken all the money on deposit to satisfy the garnishment order. These garnishment orders are usually issued without notice and prior hearing because the court fears that the defendant will disburse money out of the bank accounts and then evade paying the judgment. However, many banks will freeze the account until at least a hearing can be held to sort out who is entitled to the money. The gambit between these two courts can escalate into all kinds of woes for the citizen whose funds have been garnished. Thereafter, the garnished person may have to file an interpleader action to sort all of this out.
If the person garnished fails to pay court-ordered child support, the matter can be referred to the Circuit Court for the person’s county of residence for contempt of court proceedings. The contempt trial will be before a jury of the defendant’s peers, and if found guilty, the contempt order can lead to a sentence of up to 30 days in jail and simple fine of up to $500.00.
The failure to pay court fines can also lead to arrest. Those arrested for contempt of court should hire a criminal defense attorney the minute they can. Depending upon the circumstances of the offense, lots of stuff can go on. In one case a lawyer was arrested for failing to pay his City of Atlanta water bill. He was held in jail until the fine was paid and then released from jail without a trial or any opportunity to defend himself. However, if it is a food stamp fraud case or other serious criminal matter, the judge may invoke a bond hearing. The lawyer’s bondsman can be called to post bond and get the client out of jail. Inexpensive bond fees are available through the bondsman in these situations to keep the client out of jail while they await trial.
The bottom line is that a person who has failed to pay court fines has little or no choice short of a writ of habeas corpus to avoid court appearances. One way or another, jailing is likely to occur as a result of such inactions.
Rights and Options for Debtors Unable to Pay Court Ordered Fines
The most important term in the enabling legislation is "willfully." If a person cannot afford to pay a fine or assessment, they have a right to a hearing to determine whether nonpayment of the fine or assessment was willful and to be represented by counsel at that hearing. Nonpayment of a fine or assessment cannot be a basis for subjecting a person to additional punishment when the person cannot afford to pay. At a hearing, the person has the right to an evidentiary determination of their financial circumstances and of whether they willfully failed to pay a fine or assessment under the relevant standard as interpreted by existing court rules and case law. Any enforcement action must be tolled until the hearing is held. If the person is found not guilty because they are unable to pay, the person instead is given the opportunity to pay part of or all of the fine or assessment over time schedules and on terms set using their ability to pay. For people guilty of an offense but not capable of paying the entire fine or assessment, the outcome is very different. In that instance, a person is not afforded the same due process protections. The outcome hinges primarily on classifying the fine or assessment at issue as either a discretionary fine or a restitution or victim assessment which the legislature provides must be paid first. When a discretionary fine, which includes fees, penalties, costs, and assessments established under statute or rule, is at issue, the court may rely on the language of the enabling legislation regarding any ability to pay, and it may also consider general canons of statutory construction and prior judicial pronouncements interpreting those statutes or rules without hearing from the person at all to determine whether a discretionary fine is to be paid over time. In that scenario, the court is not required to hear from the person to determine their ability to pay. If the court determines that the person does not have the ability to pay the discretionary fine immediately, the court may impose a sentence of probation with a fine and an agreed upon probation term, with the probation term serving as a probation to pay the discretionary fine and the fine displacing the jail time.
Addressing an Unpaid Court Order Fine Warrant
When you find out that a warrant has been issued for you because of Failure to Pay Off Court Fines, your first step is to contact a lawyer as soon as possible. Your lawyer should be able to move forward to get any warrant issued against you dismissed. They should also be able to talk to the judge about an alternative means of dealing with the fines, which could mean doing community service instead of paying the fines. When someone does community service , the hours worked serve as a fine payment, since those hours are billable and were going to be used at work anyway.
It is important to get the decision on how to pay off your court fines made by the judge rather than a warrant officer, who could threaten to arrest you at any time. There is also the possibility that the government may go after your assets to pay off the court fines if the decision makes it to a magistracy.
Preventing Return of Court Ordered Warrant for Non-Payment of Court Ordered Fines
It is best to start by paying on time each time you are ordered to pay court fines and costs. If you run into any difficulties making a payment on time, you should contact the court to try to work something out. In some instances, the court may be willing to allow you to make smaller payments over a period of time . If you cannot attend your court date, contact the clerk so that you can either appear before the judge or the case in order to avoid a default judgment. Sometimes it is best not to come into court, but you have a right to request it, particularly if you have had the money to pay and the money is not due until a future date. If you have extenuating circumstances as to your inability to pay on time, you may be able to ask for a modification of the payment plan.