Last Updated on June 19, 2025 by Beltz Law Group
Help With Warrants In North Texas
Attorney For Traffic Ticket Warrants in North Texas: Resolving Your Tickets Properly
Resolving old traffic tickets correctly can make all the difference between a suspended driver’s license, increased insurance rates, and avoiding these severe penalties altogether. Many people across Texas don’t fully grasp just how serious a traffic ticket conviction can be – it’s arguably the most common reason for a driver’s license suspension in the state. This article aims to help those with outstanding traffic ticket warrants understand how to handle these tickets properly to avoid common and costly mistakes.
If you would like to talk with a Dallas traffic ticket attorney after reading this article, feel free to contact our office at 214-321-4105.
The Warrant Process for Traffic Tickets in Texas
A traffic ticket officially goes into warrant status after you’ve missed your initial appearance date in court. However, it’s not an immediate process:
- 10-Day Grace Period: Courts generally must wait 10 days after your appearance date before they can actively place a traffic ticket in warrant. This “mailbox rule” ensures that if you mailed a plea (like “not guilty”) on or before your due date, and it’s received within 10 days, it’s treated as if the court received it on the postmarked date.
- Warrant Queue and Activation: Once this 10-day period passes without a proper appearance or resolution, the court can then place the case into a “warrant queue” for a judge to sign. After the judge signs, the warrant becomes “active” and is then placed on various warrant databases used by law enforcement across North Texas.
- Risk of Arrest: With an active warrant, you can be arrested during a routine traffic stop, at your home, or even at your workplace, and taken to court to resolve the issue.
Dallas Ticket Defense Attorney
Major Mistakes to Avoid When Traffic Tickets Go Into Warrant
One of the biggest mistakes we constantly see during Warrant Roundup season in Texas is the direct payment of old tickets that are in warrant status. While this may clear the immediate threat of arrest, it often leads to severe long-term consequences.
Why Paying Off Old Tickets is a Mistake:
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Automatic, Permanent Conviction: Under Texas law (Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 27.14), paying a fine for a traffic ticket is considered an admission of guilt or no contest. This means a conviction will automatically be entered on your criminal and driving records. This conviction is then reported directly to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
- Once a conviction has been reported to your permanent record, it is exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, to remove. Your only potential legal remedy after payment is to file a “Motion for New Trial” within a very narrow 10-day window, and there’s no guarantee such a motion will be granted.
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No More Surcharges or Points, But Still High Costs: The Texas Driver Responsibility Program (which included state-imposed surcharges and the points system) was repealed effective September 1, 2019. This is a significant change, meaning:
- You will no longer be assessed surcharges (like the old $100 for the first six points, plus $25 for each additional point, or the $750 for specific offenses) for convictions that occur after this date.
- Your license will not be suspended solely due to unpaid surcharges or the accumulation of “points” under the old system.
HOWEVER, the absence of surcharges does NOT mean there are no financial or license consequences for convictions:
- Increased Insurance Premiums: Insurance companies regularly access your driving record. Every conviction for a moving violation signals a higher risk, almost certainly leading to a substantial increase in your auto insurance rates for several years. This increased cost can easily far exceed the original ticket fine.
- Potential DPS License Suspensions: While the “points system” is gone, the DPS still retains the authority to suspend your driver’s license if you accumulate too many moving violation convictions within specific periods. For example, accumulating 4 or more moving violations in 12 months or 7 or more moving violations in 24 months can trigger a separate, state-initiated driver’s license suspension. This scenario often plays out when someone pays off a group of old tickets simultaneously (e.g., with a tax refund). Because the convictions are all reported around the same time, it can appear to the DPS that the driver is a habitual violator, triggering an automatic suspension action.
If you receive a driver’s license suspension notice because you paid off your tickets this way, contact our traffic ticket lawyers in Dallas, Texas, today.
Dallas Ticket Defense Lawyer
Hire A Dallas Ticket Lawyer For Traffic Warrants
The best way to avoid permanent convictions and subsequent financial penalties or license suspensions for traffic ticket warrants is to hire an attorney to assist you. Our experienced attorneys can:
- Remove Warrants Safely: Attorneys can remove warrants for traffic tickets without causing immediate harm to your permanent record by filing an appearance bond on your behalf. This document legally restarts the court process for that specific case.
- Clear OMNI Holds: If your tickets have resulted in an OMNIBASE hold (preventing license renewal), your attorney will also ensure the necessary administrative OMNI fee is paid. This fee is $10 per offense for violations reported to OMNIBASE on or after January 1, 2020, and was $30 per offense for those reported prior.
- Protect Your Record in Court: After the warrant is removed, your attorney can then go into court on your behalf to attempt to resolve the case without causing a conviction on your record. This may not always mean a full dismissal, but it means seeking outcomes like deferred disposition or defensive driving that keep the offense from being reported as a conviction to DPS.
By taking these extra steps, your record can remain clear. The name of the game in today’s electronic reporting environment is keeping a clean record. Once a conviction is in the DPS system, it can be very expensive and difficult to mitigate its effects. We strongly suggest you contact a Dallas ticket lawyer today to discuss your warrants and protect your driving future.
