What happens if you miss a court date in Arizona?

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Missing a criminal or petty-offense court date in Arizona can itself be a crime, trigger an arrest warrant, and — for driving-offense cases — suspend your license.

New criminal charge. Arizona law creates a separate offense called failure to appear in the second degree. If you were required by law to appear in connection with any misdemeanor or petty offense and you knowingly failed to appear, that is a class 1 misdemeanor — and this applies regardless of how the underlying charge turns out . If you had given a written promise to appear, or had been personally served with a written notice to appear on a designated date, and then failed to appear either personally or through counsel, that is a class 2 misdemeanor .

Arrest warrant. If you signed a written promise to appear on a designated date and then failed to appear personally or by counsel on or before that date, court staff must file a written, sworn complaint charging you with failure to appear and must issue a warrant for your arrest . When you are later arraigned on the failure-to-appear charge (if you had not been arraigned before), the court must also arraign you on the original charge for which you had promised to appear .

Driver's license suspension (vehicle-code cases). If the missed appearance followed service of a criminal complaint alleging a violation of Arizona's motor vehicle laws, the court notifies the department, which must suspend your driver license or nonresident operating privilege until you appear . If you appear but do not pay your fines, surcharges, or assessments, the department must again suspend or restrict your driving privileges on the court's notification until those amounts are paid .

If you have missed a court date, the warrant and the separate failure-to-appear charge described above can each carry consequences beyond the original case , so consulting a licensed Arizona attorney promptly is advisable.