Bench Warrants
I often get a calls from people saying that the court ordered a bench warrant after they missed a court date. It’s often second-hand information, in that someone that they know was at the courthouse, heard their name called and then relayed the information about the bench warrant to them.
Essentially, there are two possibilities in terms of a bench warrant. One is a bench warrant where the police can arrest you at any time after they have actually received the information from the court and the second is a discretionary bench warrant which is often called a bench warrant with discretion where the court is asking you to come to your next court date because you missed the previous one. The warrant will not be executed until your next court date. They will subsequently rescind the warrant if you attend the next court date or fulfill the demand that they made of you at the previous court appearance. The next date is usually a week after your missed court date.
Either way you should call the courthouse to find out which one it was.
Pierre Bonsu - Lawyer 