What is a Bench Warrant?

What is a Bench Warrant?

The term “bench” from “bench warrant” refers to the traditional term for the judge’s seat. This means that when the defendant has failed to show presence on a specific scheduled in the court, a warrant called bench warrant is issued by the court or the judge. Sometimes abbreviated as “FTA”, issuance of a bench warrant is made to make defendant explain for his or her absence. If the defendant gave an explainable reason, the court or judge will let the defendant be excused until the defendant pays the fine charges. If not, the defendant will be punished, penalties will be made and imprisonment will come for the defendant. Once the warrant has been issued, law enforcements may have the right to arrest the defendant on its location.

Is a bench warrant also considered as an arrest warrant?
In some ways both bench warrants and arrest warrants serve relatively similar purposes, although there are still stark differences between both. A bench warrant is given for particular types of crime where individuals had offended the court thereby committing a crime, while an arrest warrant is given for particular types of crime where the defendant had already or at least allegedly committed a crime. In most cases, an arrest warrant is most commonly issued for criminal cases while on the other hand, a bench warrant is most commonly issued for civil cases.

What happens if one is issued a bench warrant?
Once a bench warrant is issued to a person due to his or her offense made to the court, his or her name will be placed into a state-wide computer database that will record the outstanding warrant. So should the person come in contact with the police at any point in time, he or she will be taken into custody for the outstanding bench warrant.

In most criminal cases, issuance of a bench warrant due to offenses such as failing to appear on a scheduled court trial will most likely lead to the standard arrest warrant. Although like other warrants, it is still standard procedure that if the police officers came into the defendant’s home, the police officers must show a warrant to the defendant before taking the defendant to the court. The law enforcers will advise the defendant’s rights and will also be given the right to call the defendant’s lawyer.