By Nathan Cate, Nashville Criminal Defense Attorney | Cate Law
You missed court. Maybe you forgot the date. Maybe you were in the hospital, or your car broke down, or you just couldn’t face it. Whatever the reason, you’re sitting here now with a knot in your stomach, trying to figure out how bad this is.
I’m Nathan Cate, a criminal defense attorney in Nashville. I’ve represented hundreds of people who missed their court dates — from minor misdemeanor cases to serious felonies. I know what the courts do, what the law says, and what your options are right now. Let me walk you through it.
What Happens When You Miss Court in Tennessee
The moment you fail to appear for a scheduled court date, the judge does two things almost immediately.
A Capias Warrant Is Issued
A capias warrant — sometimes called a bench warrant — is an order for law enforcement to arrest you and bring you before the court. It goes into the system the same day you miss your hearing. Once it’s in the system, any police officer in Tennessee who runs your name during a traffic stop, a background check, or any other encounter will see that warrant.
This means you can be arrested at any time. Walking into a traffic checkpoint. Getting pulled over for a broken tail light. Applying for a job that requires a background check. The warrant doesn’t expire. It sits there until it’s dealt with.
Your Bond Is Forfeited
If you posted bond to get out of jail — whether it was a cash bond you paid yourself or a surety bond through a bondsman — that bond is forfeited when you fail to appear. The court keeps the money. If you used a bondsman, the bonding company will come looking for you. They have a financial incentive to find you, and they will.
If you were on your own recognizance (released on your promise to appear), the court now has evidence that your promise wasn’t worth much. That matters at your next bond hearing.
Failure to Appear Is a Separate Criminal Charge
Here’s the part most people don’t realize: missing court isn’t just a problem for your existing case. Under Tenn. Code Ann. ss 39-16-609, failure to appear is a separate criminal offense.
The severity of the new charge depends on the charge you failed to appear for:
FTA on a Misdemeanor
If the underlying charge was a misdemeanor, failure to appear is a Class A misdemeanor. That carries up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. So if you missed court on a simple possession charge or a first-offense DUI, you now have two criminal charges instead of one.
FTA on a Felony
If the underlying charge was a felony, failure to appear is a Class E felony. That means one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $3,000. You went from facing the original felony charge to facing the original charge plus an additional felony. This is how a bad situation becomes a much worse one.
FTA on a Citation or Non-Jailable Offense
Even if the original matter was minor — a traffic citation, a code violation — failing to appear still triggers a capias warrant. While the standalone FTA charge under ss 39-16-609 technically requires the underlying offense to be one where bail was set, the bench warrant alone creates its own cascade of problems.
What the Judge Sees When You Come Back
Judges in Davidson County and across Middle Tennessee handle failure-to-appear cases constantly. When you do come back before the court — whether voluntarily or in handcuffs — the judge is evaluating several things:
How long were you gone? A few days looks different from a few months. Someone who missed by one day and called their lawyer that morning gets treated differently from someone who disappeared for six months.
Why did you miss? Medical emergencies, genuine confusion about the date, and verifiable car trouble are taken seriously. “I forgot” is understood but doesn’t help much. No explanation at all is the worst position.
What did you do about it? This is the big one. Did you turn yourself in, or did the police have to come find you? Did you contact your attorney? Did you try to get it rescheduled? Judges draw a hard line between people who made a mistake and tried to fix it versus people who ran.
What’s your history? A first-time FTA on a clean record is a different conversation than a third missed court date on a case with prior bond violations.
How to Fix It: Surrender vs. Getting Picked Up
You have two options. One is dramatically better than the other.
Option 1: Voluntary Surrender (The Right Move)
Call a criminal defense attorney. Do this before you do anything else. Your attorney can contact the court, arrange a surrender, and in many cases get a new bond hearing scheduled at the same time. Walking into the courthouse with your lawyer, explaining the situation, and asking the judge to reinstate your bond is the single strongest thing you can do.
In Davidson County, your attorney can often file a motion for a new bond hearing before you even walk in. This means you may not have to sit in jail waiting for a hearing — the judge can address the warrant and your bond at one appearance.
Option 2: Getting Arrested on the Warrant
If you don’t deal with the warrant voluntarily, eventually the police will deal with it for you. Maybe during a traffic stop. Maybe at your front door. The timing is unpredictable and the circumstances are never good.
When you’re picked up on a capias warrant, you go to jail and wait for the next available court date. In Davidson County, that might mean a weekend in jail if you’re arrested on a Friday. You don’t get to choose the timing, and you show up in front of the judge without the benefit of your lawyer having prepared the ground.
The Bond Re-Hearing
After a failure to appear, the court holds a new bond hearing. The old bond is gone — you’re starting over. The judge will consider:
- The nature and circumstances of the original charge
- Your explanation for missing court
- Whether you surrendered voluntarily or were arrested
- Your ties to the community (job, family, housing stability)
- Your prior criminal history and prior FTA history
- Whether conditions of release can reasonably assure your appearance
The judge can set a higher bond, add conditions (like GPS monitoring or check-ins), or in serious cases deny bond altogether. This is where having an attorney matters most. A lawyer who knows the judge, knows the court, and can present your situation clearly makes the difference between walking out and sitting in jail.
If you originally posted bond through a bondsman, you’ll likely need a new bond. The original bonding company may or may not take you back, and if they do, the premium will be higher.
What You Can Do Right Now
If you’ve missed a court date in Tennessee, here is your action plan:
Step 1: Find out exactly what’s pending. Use the Nashville case lookup tool to check your case status in Davidson County. This will show you whether a warrant has been issued, what court your case is in, and what the next scheduled date is — if there is one.
Step 2: Call a criminal defense attorney. Do not try to handle a failure-to-appear situation without a lawyer. The FTA charge alone is a separate criminal offense, and the bond hearing requires someone who knows how to present your case to the judge. If you’re in Nashville or anywhere in Middle Tennessee, contact my office and we’ll walk through your options.
Step 3: Do not wait. Every day that passes between the missed court date and your surrender makes the situation harder. Judges notice. Three days looks like a mistake. Three months looks like flight.
Step 4: Gather documentation. If you have a legitimate reason for missing court — hospital records, a mechanic’s invoice, a work emergency — bring it. Documentation turns “I had a reason” into proof.
How This Connects to Your Underlying Case
A failure to appear doesn’t make your original case go away. It makes it worse. The prosecutor now has leverage — you’re the defendant who ran. That colors plea negotiations, sentencing arguments, and the judge’s overall impression of you.
On the other hand, if you handle the FTA correctly — voluntary surrender, good explanation, clean appearance at the bond hearing — you can minimize the damage. In many cases, the FTA charge itself can be addressed as part of the resolution of the underlying case. I’ve seen FTA charges dismissed or merged when the defendant demonstrates that the miss was an anomaly and not a pattern.
The key is acting quickly, acting through a lawyer, and showing the court that you take your obligations seriously.
For a full overview of how criminal cases move through the Tennessee court system, see our practice areas page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a failure-to-appear warrant stay active in Tennessee?
A capias warrant issued for failure to appear does not expire. It remains active in the system indefinitely until you either surrender voluntarily or are arrested by law enforcement. There is no waiting period after which the warrant goes away on its own. The longer it sits, the worse it looks when you do appear before a judge.
Can I be arrested in another state for a Tennessee failure-to-appear warrant?
Yes. Tennessee warrants are entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which is accessible to law enforcement nationwide. If you’re stopped by police in another state and they run your name, the Tennessee warrant will appear. Whether that state will extradite you back to Tennessee depends on the severity of the charge, but the warrant itself is visible everywhere.
Will I go to jail when I turn myself in on an FTA warrant?
It depends on the charge and the court. If your attorney arranges the surrender in advance and schedules a bond hearing at the same time, many judges in Davidson County will hear the bond motion immediately and release you on a new bond the same day. If you walk in without a lawyer and without advance coordination, you’re more likely to be booked and held until a hearing can be scheduled.
Is failure to appear a felony in Tennessee?
It depends on the underlying charge. Under Tenn. Code Ann. ss 39-16-609, failure to appear on a felony charge is a Class E felony (one to six years). Failure to appear on a misdemeanor charge is a Class A misdemeanor (up to 11 months and 29 days). Either way, it’s a separate criminal charge on top of whatever you were originally facing.
Can a failure-to-appear charge be dismissed?
Yes. If you can show a legitimate reason for missing court — a medical emergency, genuine confusion about the date, circumstances beyond your control — a defense attorney can argue for dismissal of the FTA charge. Even without a perfect excuse, FTA charges are frequently resolved as part of the overall case disposition, especially when the defendant surrendered voluntarily and appeared reliably after that.
Does failure to appear affect my bond on other cases?
It can. If you have multiple pending cases, a failure to appear on one case signals to judges on your other cases that you may be a flight risk. Prosecutors can use the FTA to argue for higher bond or stricter conditions on your other matters. This is another reason to deal with an FTA quickly — the longer it sits, the more damage it does across everything else you have pending.
Charged with failure to appear in Tennessee? Call (615) 664-8083 for a free consultation.