A defendant who has not been in custody or released from custody yet may not be charged with failure to appear.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. It depends on the underlying offense
• D. Only if the defendant was served with summons

Answer: (A)

Failure to appear hinges on an obligation to attend a court hearing that comes from being released from custody or from a summons. If someone is still in custody and has not been released to attend a specific court date, there isn’t a release condition to violate, so a failure to appear charge wouldn’t apply. The offense is triggered once the defendant has been released (on bail, recognizance, or similar conditions) and then misses the scheduled appearance. In that situation, missing the court date violates the terms of release. If a person remains in custody, other actions such as contempt of court or bond-related violations may be pursued, but not the failure to appear charge itself.