What happens if I am late to court?

Answer 1

How late? In addition to the possibility of a severe tongue-lashing from the judge you could be held in contempt of court. If you are too late, the judge may assume that you skipped, and have already issued a bench warrant for your arrest.

Answer 2

Usually a judge will issue a bench warrant. A bench warrant is a warrant for ones arrest for failure to appear in court. If you can prove extenuating circumstances or give a really good reason as to why you missed court a judge will sometimes revoke it. Normally if a person finds out that they have one of these they can pay the fine that is associated with it and never see the inside of a jail. If you encounter a police officer and you license is ran and the warrant is active you will be taken to jail, where you then will usually be able to post a bail and then still have to pay the fine. Laws vary from state to state and county to county so you need to inquire what is the specific law in your area.