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Last year I received two traffic tickets (same park ranger, same day, same stop). I immediately hired an attorney, because I felt that the tickets were insufficient. This happened in March of 2010. Months go by and not much is being done. Dates get postponed is about all that happens. November rolls around and I call my attorney to see what is going on. He tells me that he was going to be talking with the DA that same day and that he would call me back. He never did.

This last Monday I call the attorney and remind him that it has been almost a year since I received the tickets. He said that it's normal for it to take this long, but he would get back to me Friday when he was back in his office to see if he had anything scheduled on my case.

I get a letter in the mail today that was in regards to my tickets. Didn't make much sense, so I called the counties office where they occurred and was informed that I had THREE warrants out for my arrest. One for each traffic violation and a failure to appear (class C misd.). WHAT THE HECK? I'm young and I've never been in trouble, so this came as a huge shock to me. She informs me that there was a court date in November and no one showed up. Everything was done through the attorney, so I was NEVER informed of any court date. I get a hold of the attorney and he's going to take care of the warrants next week (have them bonded and the court date reset).

Now, to my CHL. My online status appeared last Wednesday (16th) and has been background check pending. I did a Texas criminal history check on myself just now and don't have anything listed. But I figure with active warrants, I'm going to get denied? Unless the warrants get taken care of soon enough to be pulled off my record?

I have a very strong feeling that I am out of $140.

Well, not too sure you need to be worried about the $140 right now. Think I would be sitting at the attorney's office and get into his face about why he has allowed this to happen.

PBratton wrote:Well, not too sure you need to be worried about the $140 right now. Think I would be sitting at the attorney's office and get into his face about why he has allowed this to happen.

And get another attorney to come with you? (This seems serious.)

If what you stated is accurate, I would also call the State Bar of Texas.

WildBill wrote:If what you stated is accurate, I would also call the State Bar of Texas.

Yeah, it's accurate, unfortunately.

The attorney had something going on with the DA back in November, and I'm guessing some sort of miscommunication went on there. When I called him today he wasn't in the office but said he would try to find out what happened.

The letter I received from the DPS was a notice of denial or renewal of my drivers license. It states my violations (simple traffic violations), and that my DL would not be renewed until I settled the fees of the tickets (my DL doesn't need to be renewed until 2015). Nowhere does it say anything that they issued warrants, but that is what the lady at the judges office told me.

Since it's all Class C stuff, I don't think it will have any impact on your eligibility. I'd still get it resolved ASAP.

KC5AV wrote:Since it's all Class C stuff, I don't think it will have any impact on your eligibility. I'd still get it resolved ASAP.

Thanks.

I had a cop friend search my name and no warrants came up. THANK GOD! He says they will probably only show up in the county in which they were issued. Which, very much thankfully, is not the county I live in.

Class C misdemenors are not disqualifing. As others have said get it taken care of.

WildBill wrote:If what you stated is accurate, I would also call the State Bar of Texas.

That is my advice, AND a legal malpractice suit, AND get a new attorney. You got problems. It will eventually get taken care of, although the state will argue that your attorney problems are yours, and not their's, and they gots to get paid.

Maybe ask the lawyer to take care of all the $$ to avoid making a big stink out of his lack of attention to the case. lol

Not only are Class C misd. (other than Disorderly Conduct) not disqualifying, but DPS also will not disqualify for warrants issued for same. They have stated that if warrants for Class C misd. are discovered, they will make a "courtesy call" to the applicant to inform him to get them taken care of, but will not disqualify for them.

sjfcontrol wrote:Not only are Class C misd. (other than Disorderly Conduct) not disqualifying, but DPS also will not disqualify for warrants issued for same. They have stated that if warrants for Class C misd. are discovered, they will make a "courtesy call" to the applicant to inform him to get them taken care of, but will not disqualify for them.

That's why I like this forum. I have learned 2 new facts today.

I agree, Rebel.

Thank you so much, sjf. Not looking forward to that call, but better than a big red DENIED on my application. lol

And I just checked my application status. Background check: COMPLETE! YAY

Please take care of it. A friend of my daughter's let a simple expired sticker go for a long time. She (the friend) was at our house when the bail enforcement officers finally found her and came to take her to jail. The warrants and fines had skyrocketed to over a $1,000.