Most people understand that an arrest warrant will be issued when a defendant fails to appear for Court. What is not clearly understood is that in addition to the crime you were originally supposed to appear in Court for, now the defendant will have an additional charge to defend.
Pursuant to Missouri statute section 544.655.1, “any person who, having been released upon a recognizance or bond…pending…a criminal matter against him or her, knowingly fails to appear before any court or judicial officer as required shall be guilty of the crime of failure to appear.” Section 544.655.2(1) states that if the original criminal matter was a felony, then committing the crime of Failure to Appear is a class D felony.
So if you are charged with a felony and miss Court, now you will have 2 felonies. And if you are on probation for a felony and miss a probation violation hearing, now you will have deal with 1) the probation violation and 2) an additional felony charge.
My advice: do not skip Court.
State v. Seay, No. 74854 (Mo. App. W.D., March 26, 2013).