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DUI failure-to-appear costs: the second charge a missed court date creates
Missing a DUI court date does not pause the case — it adds one. A bench warrant issues, bail that was posted can be forfeited, the license can be suspended for failure to comply, and in states like California the failure to appear is a separate misdemeanor with its own fine of up to $1,000. This page prices the failure-to-appear layer only, from the statutes and fee schedules that create it.
California: a separate misdemeanor, plus a civil assessment
When a person is arrested for a DUI and released on a citation or a written promise to appear, Vehicle Code § 40508(a) makes willfully violating that promise — failing to appear, or failing to comply with a lawfully granted continuance — a misdemeanor, regardless of how the underlying charge is eventually resolved. Penal Code § 853.7 states the same rule for written promises to appear generally. A misdemeanor conviction in California carries the general exposure of up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, where no different punishment is prescribed — and that fine is on top of, not instead of, whatever the DUI itself produces.
Two more California consequences follow the missed date itself. Under Vehicle Code § 40515, when a person fails to appear as promised, the court notifies the DMV, and a hold is placed on the license until the person appears or the matter is cleared; driving while that process has ripened into a suspension is its own offense. And Penal Code § 1214.1 authorizes a civil assessment of up to $100 against a person who fails to appear or fails to pay after notice and an opportunity to be heard — reduced from its former $300 level by recent legislation, which is why older pages quote the higher figure. The assessment is a court charge, not a fine, and it is imposed per case. None of these amounts includes the warrant itself: a bench warrant under § 40515 practice costs nothing to issue and a great deal to live with, because any later police contact can end in arrest and a new bail decision.
Bail forfeiture and the cost of getting out again
If the driver was released on bail rather than a promise to appear, a failure to appear starts a forfeiture clock. In California, Penal Code § 1305 requires the court to declare the bail forfeited when the defendant fails to appear without sufficient excuse, and the bail amount — or the bond premium already paid to a bondsman, which is earned and non-refundable under the bond contract — is at risk while the court process runs. There is no published statewide price for this: the bail amount was set in the individual case, and the premium is a private contract term. What this page can state honestly is the structure — forfeiture is declared on the missed date, the bondsman may seek the full bond amount from the indemnitors, and a new release after arrest on the warrant means a new bail decision, frequently at a higher amount or with stricter conditions. Our DUI bail and bond costs page covers how bail amounts and premiums are set in the original case.
| Failure-to-appear consequence | Published figure or rule |
|---|---|
| California — willful failure to appear (Veh. Code § 40508(a); Penal Code § 853.7) | Separate misdemeanor: fine up to $1,000, up to 6 months county jail, or both |
| California — civil assessment for failure to appear or pay (Penal Code § 1214.1) | Up to $100 per case |
| California — DMV hold after failure to appear (Veh. Code § 40515) | License hold until the appearance is cleared; no published state fee for the hold itself |
| Florida — clearing a failure-to-comply (D-6) suspension (FLHSMV fee schedule) | $60 reinstatement fee per D-6 suspension, after the court clears compliance |
| Bail posted and not appeared (e.g. Penal Code § 1305) | Forfeiture of the case-specific bail amount; no statewide published figure exists |
Sources: California Vehicle Code §§ 40508, 40515; California Penal Code §§ 853.7, 1214.1, 1305 (California Legislative Information); Florida DHSMV driver-license fee schedule (D-6 reinstatement $60). Last verified: October 2026.
The fine is one line in a longer stack — court costs, program fees, interlock, supervision and reinstatement all bill separately. Price the layers that apply to your case in the calculator.
Open the DUI cost calculatorFlorida: the D-6 suspension is how a missed date bills you
Florida handles the same conduct through its compliance-suspension system. When a person fails to comply with a court requirement — including appearing or paying on a traffic criminal case such as a DUI — the clerk notifies the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the license is suspended on a D-6 clearance. The suspension does not lift when the person simply decides to deal with it: the underlying court case must be satisfied or brought current, the court issues the clearance, and FLHSMV then charges its published reinstatement fee of $60 for each D-6 suspension. A driver with missed dates in two counties can hold two D-6 suspensions and pay the fee twice. Separately, Florida courts can issue a capias — the state's bench warrant — on the missed appearance, and a DUI defendant who was on pretrial release can have that release revoked, which returns the case to a fresh custody and bond decision with no published price.
The pattern across both states is the same, and it is why this page exists: the failure to appear rarely carries the largest fine in the case, but it is the only charge in a DUI file that is entirely self-inflicted after the arrest, and it compounds — warrant, hold or D-6 suspension, assessment or reinstatement fee, and a worse bail position in the original case, all before the DUI itself is sentenced. Drivers who miss a date should also expect the DUI's own administrative clock to keep running; the DMV suspension for the arrest does not wait for the criminal case, as our reinstatement guide explains.
Common questions
- Is failure to appear a crime even if the DUI is later dismissed?
- In California, yes. Section 40508(a) applies "regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he or she was originally arrested" — the promise to appear is an independent obligation.
- What does it cost to clear the warrant itself?
- No state covered here publishes a warrant fee. The published money is the failure-to-appear fine and civil assessment in California, and the $60 D-6 reinstatement fee in Florida, plus whatever the court requires in the underlying case.
- Can bail really be forfeited for one missed date?
- Yes — forfeiture is declared when the defendant fails to appear without sufficient excuse, subject to the statutory process for setting it aside if the person appears within the period the law allows. The amount at risk is the bail set in that case, not a statewide figure.
Related cost guides: DUI bail and bond costs, license reinstatement fees, DUI probation and supervision fees, and the full first-offense cost stack.
Sources: California Vehicle Code §§ 40508, 40515; California Penal Code §§ 853.7, 1214.1, 1305; Florida DHSMV fee schedule. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.