Understanding Misdemeanor Charges in State or County Courts
So you’re facing criminal misdemeanor charges and you’re not sure what to do. I’m Tulsa misdemeanor attorney Carl Birkhead with Wirth Law Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve been practicing criminal law for over seven years now, and I want to help you make law easy by talking about what the misdemeanor process looks like and how I can help you with that process.
So I’m going to focus on misdemeanors that are filed in state court or county court rather than municipal court because I touched on that recently. Unfortunately in Tulsa, if you’re facing misdemeanor charges, it’s not going to be something where you can just get it handled in one court appearance. You’re going to start at what’s called the arraignment docket, and that’s going to be on the first floor in room 173, I think.
Navigating the Arraignment Process
It’s usually a relatively quick situation. You show up with your attorney. You see whether or not the state’s filed charges. You enter a plea of not guilty, and then you’ll get set at roughly 30 days out in front of a different judge to move forward with the case.
That doesn’t always happen, though. Sometimes you’ll have situations where the state’s on the fence whether or not they’re going to file charges yet. In those instances, you must have an attorney present with you so that you can do a little bit of wheeling and dealing, and grease a little bit of wheels on the front end to keep those charges from being filed in the first place.
The Importance of Legal Representation
I have clients all the time. As recently as this month, they have come to me. These clients tell me they got arrested and they are facing these allegations against them. They don’t know if any charges have been filed. They can’t find anything about charges being filed. Can an attorney help? We absolutely can.
Out of those times that happened this month, at least three out of the four of them are set to be either dismissed very quickly after being filed, or they’re not going to be getting filed at all. You must make sure that you explore all of your options and get legal help as soon as possible, especially if it’s the type of situation where we can keep the charges from being filed at all.
Preventing Charges from Becoming Public
If we make sure that they don’t get filed, then they won’t be made a matter of public record, and no one has to know that it even happened. If this is the situation that you’re in, you’re facing misdemeanor charges, either ones that have been filed or ones that are still up in the air of whether or not they’re going to be filed, call us and call us fast.
We want to help you. We want to make sure that we get in front of this and take care of it quickly so that it doesn’t mess up your life. If you have questions about this, absolutely give us a call. I’m more than happy to sit down and chat with you about it. I’m Tulsa criminal lawyer Carl Birkhead of Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy.
Schedule a Low-Cost Initial Strategy Session
If you’re dealing with a misdemeanor charge, don’t navigate the legal system alone. Call us at 918-879-1681 to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session. Let’s work together to protect your future.
