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Laws governing court responses to “failure to appear,” by state — Appendix
These statutes were originally compiled by the the National Conference of State Legislatures in the Statutory Responses for Failure to Appear Database (updated February 25, 2022). However, the Prison Policy Initiative updated that list with any changes identified through our analysis of the policies, summarized in our briefing High stakes mistakes: How courts respond to “failure to appear.” The categorization of each jurisdiction’s statute(s) in the table below is the result of our analysis and interpretation. The original statutory language can be found in the state or D.C. laws referenced under “Citations.”
| Punishments | Accommodations | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Additional charges | Strict liability | Consideration of intent | Excused absence | Grace period | Out-of-state distinction | Citations |
| Alabama | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11-45-9.1; 13A-10-39; 13A-10-40 | |||
| Alaska | Yes | Yes | Yes | 11.56.730; 12.25.230 | |||
| Arizona | Yes | Yes | 13-2507; 13-3903 | ||||
| Arkansas | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5-54-120 | |||
| California | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1043; 1305.1; 1320; 1320.5 | ||
| Colorado | Yes | Yes | 16-5-206; 18-8-212 | ||||
| Connecticut | Yes | Yes | Yes | 53a-172; 53a-173; 54-2e | |||
| Delaware | Yes | Yes | 11 Del. C. 1271; 11 Del. C. 1907; 11 Del. C. 2113 | ||||
| District of Columbia | Yes | Yes | S 23-1327; S 23-1329 | ||||
| Florida | Yes | Yes | 843.15; 901.11; 901.31 | ||||
| Georgia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 16-10-51 | ||
| Hawaii | Yes | Yes | 286-10; 607-8.5; 710-1024; 710-1025 | ||||
| Idaho | Yes | Yes | Yes | 18-7401; 19-2915 | |||
| Illinois | Yes | Yes | 720 ILCS 5/32-10; 725 ILCS 5/110-3 | ||||
| Indiana | Yes | Yes | 35-3-8-8; 35-44.1-2-9 | ||||
| Iowa | Yes | Yes | 805.5; 811.2(8); 811.7 | ||||
| Kansas | Yes | Yes | Yes | 21-5915 | |||
| Kentucky | Yes | Yes | Yes | 520.08 | |||
| Louisiana | Yes | Yes | Yes | 14:110.1; 14:110.1.1 | |||
| Maine | Yes | Yes | Yes | 15 MRS 1091 | |||
| Maryland | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5-211; 5-212 | |||
| Massachusetts | Yes | Yes | 276 S 82A | ||||
| Michigan | Yes | Yes | Yes | 750.199a; 764.3 | |||
| Minnesota | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 609.49 | ||
| Mississippi | Yes | 99-5-25 | |||||
| Missouri | Yes | Yes | 544.665 | ||||
| Montana | Yes | Yes | Yes | 45-7-308 | |||
| Nebraska | Yes | Yes | Yes | 29-908 | |||
| Nevada | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 199.335 | ||
| New Hampshire | Yes | Yes | Yes | 642:8 | |||
| New Jersey | Yes | Yes | 2C:29-7 | ||||
| New Mexico | Yes | Yes | 31-3-9 | ||||
| New York | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 215.55; 215.56; 215.57; 215.59 | ||
| North Carolina | Yes | Yes | 15A-543 | ||||
| North Dakota | Yes | Yes | 12.1-0805 | ||||
| Ohio | Yes | 2937.99 | |||||
| Oklahoma | Yes | Yes | Yes | 22 Okla. St. S 1110 | |||
| Oregon | Yes | Yes | Yes | 153.064; 162.195; 162.205 | |||
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Yes | 18 Pa CS S 5124 | ||||
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes | 11-1-8 | ||||
| South Carolina | Yes | Yes | 17-15-90 | ||||
| South Dakota | Yes | Yes | 23A-43-31 | ||||
| Tennessee | Yes | Yes | Yes | 39-16-609 | |||
| Texas | Yes | Yes | Yes | 38.1 | |||
| Utah | Yes | Yes | Yes | 76-8-312 | |||
| Vermont | Yes | Yes | 13 VSA S 7559 | ||||
| Virginia | Yes | Yes | Yes | 19.2-128 | |||
| Washington | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 9A.76.170; 9A.76.190 | ||
| West Virginia | Yes | Yes | Yes | 62-1C-17b | |||
| Wisconsin | Yes | Yes | 946.49 | ||||
| Wyoming | Yes | Yes | 6-5-306 | ||||
| 50 States and DC total: | 49 | 4 | 40 | 23 | 14 | 3 | |
Correction, Feb. 1, 2024: We updated our categorization and tally of jurisdictions that impose criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, to include District of Columbia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. We regret the error.
Definitions
- State
- Jurisdiction, including D.C.
- Additional charges
- The court imposes additional charges for missing court, including fines and imprisonment.
- Strict liability
- No specific intent is required to be criminally responsible for nonappearance.
- Consideration of intent
- The court considers whether a person intended to miss court to evade justice, using terms like “willfully” or “knowingly” or “intentionally” failed to appear.
- Excused absence
- The law allows for a defendant to argue for an excused absence, usually due to “circumstances beyond their control.” However, those excused absences will be ultimately left to a judge’s discretion.
- Grace period
- A period of time after a person misses court in which they can return or get in touch with the court before penalties are imposed
- Out-of-state distinction
- The law makes a distinction between someone who fails to appear while in the state and someone who has left the jurisdiction.
- Citations
- Citations for FTA-related statutes
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