living in SC now but just received a warrant in AZ (Maricopa: insurance, chapel)

[aztosc]

I was in a bad car accident, not involving anyone else, and was impaired at the time. I was in the hospital for a few days so I was never formally charged. This was 5 months ago. They have sent a letter stating I have a misdemeanor warrant put out for my arrest for DUI charges and have a requested bail amount to pay. I'm not sure what to do now. I thought the whole thing went away but eventually knew something would come up. I live in SC now with my girlfriend and really don't want to go back to AZ. Is something that can be handled from out of state? Or any other suggestions would be great. Thank you!

[cre8lite]

try contacting the court, they can give you a better idea of how to handle it

Maricopa County Justice Courts

[Ponderosa]

Both AZ and SC are in the Interstate Drivers compact which means that a DUI in AZ will likely get your license suspended in SC. If you fail to appear for your court date, you will have a warrant issued for your arrest on that too. It gets deeper and deeper. It's not going to go away by itself.

I know that they do let people who are from out of state do their jail time in their home state. I have a relative who did that after getting a DUI here. He plead guilty in the mail, paid his fine, and did his time in another state. Also had his license suspended in that state for a while too. Like the poster above said, call the court.

[todd00]

From scanning through this site below, one person posed the question, Dui, left the state of nebraska, warrant out for arrest. The lawyer that answered said the person would have to return to the state to get the warrant cancelled. But as the other poster said, call the court and check with legal aid for help or a lawyer recommendation. You don't want a dummy that will just take your money and there are plenty of that type around. Good luck.

DUI / DWI Questions & Answers :: Justia Legal Answers

[Zippyman]

Lawyer up. The only thing more expensive & time consuming than hiring a lawyer, is what happens if you don't hire a lawyer.

[jamies]

^^^ What he said.

[goolsbyjazz]

I hate to say it, but you probably should get a lawyer. My brother is currently going through this right now. He had to come back to Arizona from Massachusetts to appear in court. Good luck.

[caryberry]

Please contact a lawyer - Arizona laws "can" be quite different than other states. You will be at a huge disadvantage that could have a negative impact on your driving record, employment possibilities, insurance premiums, etc.

Don't underestimate the arm of the law. I forgot to pay a parking ticket in Chapel Hill, NC - four years later, a sheriff deputy showed up at 6AM on a Sunday morning with a warrant for my arrest. This was a $15 parking ticket - I lived five hours away.

Do the right thing

[Bondurant]

Get a lawyer and get it cleared up. This could even have dire affects on employment opportunity. I work for a company that does background checks and they recently turned a guy down because he had an open warrant for traffic tickets in Florida.

Less online forum, more lawyer.

[VJP]

What everyone else said. A lawyer can get a warrant quashed and you can begin normal proceedings. There'll be an arraignment (which is what the bond amount is for), then a pre-trial conference. There may be one more court date after that. A lawyer in AZ can handle everything for you and lets face it, if you were impaired you're going to have to plead guilty. A blood test result is all that's needed to prove you operated while impaired within 2 hours. There is minimum mandatory jail time for DUI too in Arizona.