Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

In Tennessee, if you fail to appear on a Class A misdemeanor (DUI, shoplifting, simple assault) that failure to appear is a Class E felony. Typically, a capias or bench warrant will be issued for your arrest and it will be lodged with NCIC. If you are ever stopped in another state, the felony warrant will propbably result in your arrest and return to Tennessee in handcuffs to face the original charges.

If your failure to appear was on a traffic offense, Tennessee will notify your home state, who will revoke your driver's license until you return to Tennessee and take care of the charge.

Other states use similar procedures. But they may actually refuse to come and get you even if arrested in Tennessee with an outstanding charge still pending against you. Some states will put a limit (such as "will extradite within 250 miles" or "will extradite from adjoining state only") and that might keep the other state from coming to get you BUT the arrest warrant will still appear as an outstanding charge and it will pop up on any criminal history search, for example, as part of a job application.