Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Not showing up for public intox ticket

A bench warrant is an order by the judge for police to arrest you and bring you in front of the court regarding the charged offense ... because you failed to come in voluntarily after getting notice in the appearance ticket to do so.

There are not different kinds of arrest warrants (e.g., one where police are authorized to hunt you down, and one where police can only arrest you if you stumble into their hands through a traffic stop). The order says, "Arrest this person and bring him to me!" (essentially).

But the reality is that, aside from serious felonies or high profile cases, most police agencies do not have extra man-power (in times of shrinking budgets that are causing cut-backs in the numbers of on-the-street cops) to take cops away from routine patrol work to "hunt down" people with outstanding warrants for public intoxication. So, the odds are that cops will not be "looking for you", but will arrest you if you stumble into their hands (like in a traffic stop).

Still, the old saying goes, "you can run but you cannot hide". Eventually, you will be brought in on the warrant, even if it's years from now. Why not make a good impression on the judge and go in voluntarily, on YOUR schedule ... not involtarily, whenever you get arrested (which usually happens when you least expect or can afford it, right?)?

If in doubt, talk to an attorney who does criminal defense work for official legal advice on what to do, and when.