What can I do if I got caught shoplifting and got arrested? 7 Answers as of January 27, 2012

Go immediately to Public Defender office.

You need to go to the court that issued the warrant. Tell the bailiff that you are a walk in to turn yourself in on an outstanding warrant. Because you turned yourself in and the warrant was for nonappearance you should not go to jail. Next you tell the judge that if you are given more time to do the community service you will complete it. You may also ask the judge to convert the fines to community service. You do need to get this done. If you do not you will go to jail.

You need to calendar it with the court before you are arrested. Doing so through an attorney who can make the appearance and explain things on your behalf is your best bet.

If you had an attorney on the underlying case you should get in contact with him/her to help you with this. If you have an attorney then s/he could get the warrant recalled without your being there. If you don't have an attorney, then you need to go to the courthouse, have the case added on, and throw yourself on the mercy of the court. I think there is very little chance a judge would put you in jail but it's possible. You really should get this cleared up - as a mom of all those kids you do not want to be arrested on the warrant. The older the case gets the worse you look.

Having four children is no justification or excuse for not complying with the court's order - twice. In fact, if you raise that with the judge again he may get a little annoyed. He is now likely to conclude that you are not going to do your community service (or pay your fines) especially since the case went to warrant rather than you going in before it did. You must now put yourself on the judge's calendar and go to court to clear the warrant. If you don't do this you could be driving down the road one day, get stopped by an officer for some violation, and find yourself in cuffs being taken to jail to face the judge; if your kids are with you...well, it can get worse. If you can afford and attorney you should get one. If not, speak to a public defender when you go to court. He/she will help and advise you. If you are wise you will make all your fine payments before you go to court, or at least be current. And if you don't want to go to jail instead of do the cleanup, you better have a good, honest explanation -accepting responsibility - and a solid plan to get it done. If this means getting family to take care of your kids, or some other arrangement, do it and make it work. I'm sure it is very tough for you being a single mom of 4 young kids. But you are going to have to buckle down and take care of this, setting a good example for your kids in the process.

This sounds much like a question I answered earlier. Judges are not fond of defendants not doing what they have been told to do. Tends to result in a remand to jail. However, chances for another opportunity are better if you schedule an appearance and keep it. Tell the judge your tale of woe [kids, lack of income, no guy around to help, etc.]

If your offense is a misdemeanor, you can hire an attorney to appear in court on your behalf and request that the warrant be recalled. Your attorney would then ask for an extension to give you time to make up your missed payments. You can go to court unrepresented but you run the risk of being detained by the sheriff.