Legal Question in Criminal Law in Mississippi

Depending on the charge, the Court could issue a Warrant for your arrest and send law enforcement to go get you and bring you to jail pending the next court date at which time you would be found guilty of the charge and asked to explain why you disregarded the notice to appear. If it is a DUI or Shoplifting or "Bad Check" or another offense which, if repeated, could result in a felony charge for a third offense (for example, bad check or DUI) then you have to be present to be able to be advised that the next one you get will be a charge where the penalty will be "enhanced". If it is a speeding citation or some minor offense like that the ticket will be sent to Jackson and the State will suspend your license (without telling you though) and the next time you get stopped you will get a ticket for driving with a suspended license in addition to any new citation giving rise to that stop. If you fail to appear "on purpose" you may find that the Court holds you in "Contempt" for failing to appear and the penalty for Contempt in Mississippi ($500 fine and up to six months in jail or both the fine and jail time) could be worse than the penalty if you had appeared and gotten convicted in the first place.