failure to appear for city ordnance violation

[TownCryer]

Long story short. In the process of packing and moving from a very small Texas town/village to a out of state location: I parked my c class 28Ft Rv on the street I received a warning of the city ordnance violation. I spoke with a couple of other residents who have RV and/or trucks and larger (20 ft) trailer commercial and other wise (boats etc) parked the street. They all said as long as a trailer was attached it was Ok with the City ordnance officer.

So I rented a uhaul trainer 3 days before the end of the warning period. Got my first violation four days afterward. I went to the Clerk of City Court and speak with the officer and was told he was out working on violators. I showed the clerk my paperwork and explained I was moving would be finish soon. I collected the City Attorney' s number was told I would have to go to an court on 27th of August 2015 to speak with the City attorney. Before the date I received another violation for the same city ordnance. I call the City Clerk and ask to speak with the City Ordnance officer and was told he was not available. I did get a call and was told since I had not completed my move he cited me again, and because it is a RV the trailer allowance others use would not work for me.

At the court date I explained to the City Attorney what I did and all the paperwork for the rental was there in the file. I explained that I had tried to speak with the Officer, but was not successful and did not feel I was in violation as I was doing as my fellow residence. I was told I had an RV and no living in them was allowed. I explained I was moving not living in the RV and was told if I did not want to pay a fine I would have to go to a trial.

I chose a trial with a jury to hopefully resolve the issues before trail as it is a pain the the *ss for everyone and a waste of resources.

In my questions later posed to the City Clerk of Courts I discovered no one has a full time job at this City/village court, but her. The judge is a older attorney somewhat local, the City Attorney is from Austin and new to the job. The only court date I can get is the end October. I asked to speak with the City Attorney again, but was not given a phone number this time, leaving my number With the Clerk in hopes the City Attorney will call. No call so far.

I do not want to pay fines for behavior that is allowed to other citizens, but do not want to travel 2000 miles for a court date that could be rescheduled with out notice.

My question is since it is a city ordnance not a driver/moving violation issue, and a small city ordnance violation in which the City contracts out the Officers of the court (a very small village) what are the problems associated with not attending the trial, other than a warrant issued by the Court. Is there a database that will raise a ugly head in the future resulting in a bigger problem than a 2000 mile trip?

Thank you in advance for your answers to my question

[Gotyour6]

Plead guilty and be done with it?

[Mike1961]

Pay the fine and consider it a moving expense. Sounds to me like you're wasting a lot of time that you could be using moving.

[ShysterJon]

What's the best offer the city has made so far on the total fines for the two citations?

[TownCryer]

After I have a checking I found I now have 4 violations on this issue. In another event in the moving saga, I had a class lll reese hitch brake off the back of the RV and in an effort to replace it without a long wait for service I had to drill new mounting holes in the frame resulting in 3 metal shaving in my eye. After a visit to the ophthalmologist I was on a 12 days of no moving. I guess I do not know. Before they were not willing to cut deal, if they were, I would have taken it. I have taken pre trail deferments in the past for speeding tickets. So that is why I am considering a different plan of action.

[ShysterJon]

I think your biggest roadblock is the late October court setting. You could try to do an off-docket plea. Call the clerk and ask when the judge will next be on the bench. Go to court and ask nicely whether the prosecutor will let you plead to one citation and dismiss the rest. It's worth a try.

To answer your original question, there probably wouldn't be any direct effect if you ignored the tickets. They're civil, not criminal, offenses. However, the city could turn them over to a collection agency and the information could show up in your credit reports.

[delimex007]

Dont know Shyster- some counties here in West Texas issue an arrest warrant for not taking care of weeds/trash/shrubs on your property. I found that very ridiculous. How can they issue an arrest warrant for that ?

[ShysterJon]

Originally Posted by delimex007

Dont know Shyster- some counties here in West Texas issue an arrest warrant for not taking care of weeds/trash/shrubs on your property. I found that very ridiculous. How can they issue an arrest warrant for that ?

I'll assume you're leaving out a step or steps:

1. A code violation officer issues a citation and coveys it to the alleged violator (by mail, hand delivery, sticking on their door, etc.). The citation has an answer date (aka "court date").
2. The alleged violator does not file an answer to the citation or appear in court on their court date. An arrest warrant (called an "alias" warrant) may be issued.
3. The alleged violator commits to the judge to do something regarding the citation (for example, pay a fine), but does not. An arrest warrant (called an "capias" warrant) may be issued.

So while a city code violation is a Class C misdemeanor that's punishable by a fine only and can't be punished with jail, if the defendant is charged with a code violation AND ignores it or doesn't follow through on their commitment, an arrest warrant may be issued and the person may be jailed.

btw, in Texas, alias warrants are bondable but capias warrants are not.