DALE CARSON LAW

What is a Notice to Appear (NTA)?

A notice to appear is a legal document that really constitutes an arrest but doesn’t require some important things. When you are arrested, they can now take your DNA. They can take your fingerprints, and that puts you in the National Crime Information System, which is accessible to everybody across the country, if you’re physically arrested and they take your fingerprints.

A notice to appear is simply a piece of paper. Typically, you’ll have a thumbprint, but it doesn’t require you to be processed through the system, so the advantage is that you’re never in the NCIC database, which is a big, big deal because if employers have access to that database, which many do, you will be on their target list for unemployability. In summary, for us lawyers, it is crucial that a client notify us if they receive an NTA, as it can lead to harsher legal consequences.