Legal Question in Employment Law in Missouri

Hi. I am a Missouri attorney out of St. Louis that handles traffic issues and criminal defense matters. Here's the situation with this- Generally speaking, it is not possible to have a warrant recalled unless bond is posted. Upon payment of the bond amount, a court date is then set for that particular offense, in the county where the violation occurred. You, or an attorney, will then have to appear on that court date, or the warrant will be re-issued. Typically, the only way to get rid of a warrant is to pay bond, and an attorney cannot alter this reality. Now, this is assuming that each of the 12 warrants is based on a separate ticket/offense. If some of the warrants are derivative (arising from) one warrant in a certain county, then the payment of one warrant should recall the other warrants in the surrounding counties as well. If you are dealing with 12 warrants for 12 separate tickets, then, obviously, it will get costly to post bond and have all of them recalled. You may have to deal with them a few at a time, as funds are available to pay them off.

Now the problem is that your license will be revoked, no questions asked, if you take convictions for 12 separate offenses. You will need to have an attorney handle each ticket that you would like to have any possibility at all of having reduced to a lesser offense (such as a non-moving, no-point violation). Note that, due to the fact that warrants were indeed issued, the prosecutors in some of the counties, or even all of the counties, may not allow the tickets to be amended.

You would need to hire an attorney initially just to sort this out. The attorney could determine the cost of removing each warrant, determine which warrants, if any, could be recalled, upon payment of another warrant, determine which tickets could be amended, determine which of the offenses would cause the most damage to your driving privileges, and present this all to you in an organized fashion. The attorney could then present you with an attorney-fee itemization, which would quote you the price for handling each separate offense. You could then make a decision, based on your available funds, as to which specific offenses you would like to have the attorney enter his/her appearance on and attempt to negotiate on. As funds were available, you could have the attorney work on the remaining matters on a piece-by-piece basis. Also note that, leaving the scene of an accident is a serious offense, that can, in itself, result in revocation of driving privileges. Your first step would be to have an attorney contact prosecutors from various jurisdictions, determine whether plea agreements can be worked out in those jurisdictions, despite the fact that the offenses are in warrant status, determine what is necessary to recall the warrants, and get this all sorted out, and then presented to you in an organized manner, so you know your legal rights, and the associated fees. Are your warrants each based on a separate ticket/charge? Are they in 12 different counties in Missouri? Are any of the warrants out-of-state warrants? I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] for your convenience, or by phone at (314) 471-5585. I would not hesitate on this. I often return phone calls in the evening on busy days. Thanks.

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