Yes!  Looking up my traffic tickets on the Los Angeles County Superior Court website and searching under the driver’s license look-up, I found a few unresolved items listed.  I see that I have four unresolved tickets from various courthouses in the greater Los Angeles area. The “status” section has four different messages.  The first cases states “referred to collections,” the second states the case is “open,” the third one is a “40509.5 hold,” and the fourth states “40508A warrant.” What does this all mean? My tickets were from as far back as 2010 and they have never been a problem for me yet. My drivers license is good for another 2 years so I guess I will worry about them sometime in the future when I have more time or more money to pay an attorney to fix them and I should be fine right?……WRONG.

These tickets and warrants need to be fixed IMMEDIATELY. Getting on an airplane, being pulled over for a simple traffic violation, or sometimes just walking down the street can end with your arrest and being jailed over these old traffic tickets that have turned into bench warrants.  Without your knowledge, each of the old tickets that do not have an “open” court date could have matured into a bench warrant. These warrants may also potentially be a violation of probation or parole that can land you in the county jail or, in some cases, state prison for a serious extended stay.

Lawyers have the power to make arguments and persuade the courts to make rulings while they are in session. This is true until 5pm hits and the courts close. At that point lawyers do not have jurisdiction over the jails, only Judges and deputies decide who stays and who leaves as you sit in your cell. Keep this cautionary tale in mind: If you have four active warrants, even from the same or nearby courthouses, the jail will move at their own speed to get them cleared…..one by one, day by day. So that’s potentially four days in jail to clear four simple traffic bench warrants on four tickets.

So do you still think you still have time to waste? If you can’t pay an attorney to fix your warrants now, it’s highly doubtful that you will be able to afford the bail necessary to get out of the county jail. Only to later be forced to pay an attorney more money to represent you and fix them anyway. So the old saying still rings true, “it’s easier to keep up than it is to catch up”. Waiting to hire counsel after you have been arrested will ALWAYS cost you more money than it would cost to hire a capable attorney to fix your traffic record today. It’s only a matter of time until you are picked up on traffic warrants and explaining to your family why you will not be coming home until you have been to court and explained yourself to the Judge.   It’s your choice….tick tock…….tick tock.

Overall, deciding how to handle your Criminal or Civil case depends on your individual circumstances. Therefore, it is important that you contact an experienced attorney  to assist your needs.  Can my old traffic ticktes land me in jail, yes. If you require representation on the above or any other criminal matter, feel free to reach me directly at The Law Offices of Mark A. Gallagher: (800) 797 – 8406 and email: lance.socaldefense@gmail.com