Ticket Lawyer In Arlington, Texas

If you have a ticket in Arlington Municipal Court, it is important to understand your options when it comes to protecting your permanent criminal record.  More than ever, our records are being used to evaluate us in a multitude of ways.  The impact that a ticket conviction can have on your life can be very serious.  This is why it is always important to discuss your ticket and the individual circumstances surrounding that violation with an experienced attorney in Arlington, Texas.  If you would like to discuss your case with a legal professional after reading this page, please feel free to contact our office at 214-321-4105.

What Happens After A Ticket Is Issued In Arlington, Texas?

Once a ticket has been issued by an Arlington police officer, you will be required to contact the court within a certain period of time.  This is called your appearance date.  Normally, we suggest that you wait no longer than 10 days to contact any court after getting cited with a violation.  10 days is the least amount of time allowed by law that a court can give you to contact them.  The appearance date is not a formal pretrial hearing.  This date only requires you to contact Arlington Municipal Court to let them know how you would like to proceed with your case.  Appearance dates normally cannot be made by telephone.  They must be made either in person or by mail.

Arlington Municipal Court will require you to enter a plea to determine how to proceed.  It is always wise to enter a plea of “not guilty.”  This plea ensures that you will provided with the evidence against you and will allow you an opportunity to discuss your case with a prosecutor for the City of Arlington.

What To Do If Your Case Is In Warrant Status

If your ticket was past due and in warrant status, don’t panic.  An attorney can easily remove the warrant without it impacting your permanent record.  It is crucial that you do not simply go to Arlington Municipal Court and pay the ticket off.  If you make this mistake, then the case will be reported to your permanent record.  Once it is paid, there is no way legally to reverse the conviction.  Convictions can be used against you to suspend your driver license, deny employment, deny housing opportunities and reject immigration applications.  Remember, just because a case is ticket, does not mean that it can’t have a substantial impact on your life.

The smarter way to resolve a ticket in Arlington that has gone into warrant is to have a lawyer file an appearance bond to remove the warrant.  Appearance bonds allow the warrant to be lifted without a case being reported as a conviction on your record.  The appearance bond essentially resets the case to the beginning and allows a lawyer to appear in court on your behalf to try to negotiate a deal to protect your record.  For that reason, it is highly suggested to consult a lawyer to discuss the filing of an appearance bond on your behalf if your case is in warrant status.

How Do Lawyers Protect Your Record In Arlington Municipal Court?

Lawyers fight to protect a client’s record in a number of ways.  The way used can depend on a range of factors.  First, what type of case is it?  Fighting to protect a client from a theft conviction can be significantly different than fighting to protect a client’s record from a speeding conviction.  Depending on the the type of charge, the attorney will normally tailor a defense based on the offense.  Typically this defense is focused on 2 factors.  These factors are:

• Preserving a client’s right to procedural due process.
  • This essentially ensures that the prosecution affords you all the constitutional rights you have related to notifying you of the charges against you and allowing you to view the evidence against you.  If these rights cannot be afforded to you, then the case will normally be dismissed based on a constitutional violation and the protection of your rights.
• Factual dismissals
  • Factual dismissals are usually what you think of when discussing the case with your lawyer.  For example, arguments based on the officer not using the radar or lidar gun correctly.  Evidence showing that you were not the person who assaulted another, but were acting in self defense.  Evidence showing that you did not steal an item.  All of these types of arguments and evidence are factual in nature.  These types of dismissals can be costly, due to the fact that a trial may be necessary to establish the facts.
• Negotiated deals
  • The most common way to protect a client’s record is to negotiate a deal that allows the client to serve some type of punishment, but to avoid the conviction.  Driver safety courses are a great example of this type of deal.  Deferred adjudication can be another alternative where the client agrees not to get any other violations for a period of time and to pay a deferral fee.  If all the conditions of deferred are met, then the case will be dismissed at the end of the deferral period.

Contact A Lawyer To Discuss Your Arlington Tickets

We always suggest that you at least take the time to discuss your cases in Arlington with an experienced lawyer before you decide what route to take.  You don’t want to take an action that cannot be undone.  Mistakes can be costly when it comes to the law.  Allow our Arlington ticket lawyers go over your options with you to help you make the right decision for your individual case.