County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs New Consumer Laws 2006

Bench Warrants And Penalties

(Amends Civil Code of Procedure 1992, and 1994, adds 1993.1, 1993.2; Repeals and Adds 1993; Adds Government Code 26744.5)

• Failure To Appear (Civil Code of Procedure 1992): If someone who gets a subpoena or a court order to show for a hearing fails to show up, he or she could be liable to the requesting party for $500 plus damages.
• Arrest Warrants: (Civil Code of Procedure 1993): This new law allows the Court to order the arrest of witnesses who disobey a subpoena to appear for a hearing. Before the Court can issue the arrest warrant, however, it must give the witness a follow-up notice that he or she may be arrested if he or she fails to show up for the hearing.

This new law also allows the Court to issue a warrant for the arrest of persons who disobey a court order to appear for a hearing. The court does not need to give the person any other follow-up notice in order to issue the arrest warrant.

For more information:
County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs
B-96 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 W. Temple Street * Los Angeles, CA 90012-2706
Telephone (800) 593-8222 (within the County) * (213) 974-1452
web site: dca.lacounty.gov