Failure to Appear for a Traffic Violation
The Tennessee Department of Safety is authorized to suspend the driving privileges of violators who fail to appear in court to answer or satisfy a citation. See, T.C.A. § 55-50-502(a)(1)(I). Tennessee has an interstate compact with most other states that deals with violators who fail to satisfy citations they receive in a state other than the one in which they live. If an out-of-state resident receives a traffic citation while traveling through Tennessee and fails to satisfy that citation, the Tennessee Department of Safety will notify the other state, and the other state will suspend the driver’s driving privileges. The same holds true for Tennessee residents who fail to satisfy a citation received in another state.

Court Dates to Answer or Satisfy a Citation

T.C.A. § 55-50-502(a)(1)(I) says the Department of Safety may suspend a driver's license if the defendant fails to appear in court to "answer or satisfy" a traffic citation. "Answer" means the court appearance to hear the case, i.e. guilty vs. not guilty of the violation. "Satisfy" means the follow up court appearance date to follow up on the money assessed for a conviction or assessment of costs. Many judges will have the initial court hearing to guilt or dismissal of a case, but if a defendant is found guilty or is dismissed with costs, the judge may reset the defendant for a future court date to ensure the defendant has paid the proper fines and costs in accordance with a payment plan.

If the defendant has a court date to follow up on the collections of the judgment and the defendant does not show up to court for that follow up court date, the court can submit the driver to the Department of Safety for a Failure to Appear and the driver is subject to suspension pursuant to T.C.A. § 55-50-502(a)(1)(I).

Six month Rule

Failure to Appear (FTA) is when a defendant did not appear for court at the designated time and date. Typically, the court will find the defendant guilty of the ordinance violation, by default, due to the failure to appear. The guilty conviction should be timely submitted on the court action report. The default judgment may be appealed to circuit court. The clerk should submit “Failure to Appear (FTA)" on the court action report. Any request for suspension must be submitted to the Department of Safety within six (6) months of the violation date. T.C.A. § 55-50-502(a)(1)(I).