Failure to Respond or to Appear

(a) Failure to Respond to Citation. (1) Default Judgment. If a defendant fails to respond as provided in Rules 5 or 6, the court may, without finding probable cause to believe the defendant committed the offense, enter a default judgment of conviction as provided in Rule 10. (2) Warning Notice Requirement. At least 15 days before default judgment is entered, a notice advising the defendant of the consequences of a failure to respond must be sent to the defendant at the address on record with the Division of Motor Vehicles or the address shown on the citation. (3) Citations Filed With Municipalities. If the citation is initially filed with a municipality as provided in Administrative Bulletin 39, the municipality may request a default judgment by filing with the court the citation and an affidavit from a ALASKA RULES OF MINOR OFFENSE PROCEDURE Rule 10 municipal employee stating that the municipality sent the defendant the warning notice required in (2) above and the defendant failed to respond. If the municipality has entered into an agreement to file citations electronically under Rule 22, the agreement must include procedures for verifying that the defendant was sent the warning notice and failed to respond. Requests for default judgment must be filed within six months after the citation was issued. The request and affidavit for default judgment must be on a form approved by the administrative director. (b) Failure to Appear After Summons. If a defendant who has been served a summons issued under Rule 4 fails to appear or respond, the court may enter a default judgment of conviction as provided in Rule 10. (c) Failure to Appear for Arraignment or Trial. If the court sends a defendant notice of an arraignment or trial date and the defendant fails to appear on the scheduled date, the court may, without finding probable cause to believe the defendant committed the offense, enter a default judgment of conviction as provided in Rule 10. The court’s notice of the arraignment or trial date must advise the defendant of the consequences if the defendant fails to appear. (d) Bench Warrants Prohibited. The court shall not issue a bench warrant for failure to respond or appear or for failure to satisfy the judgment in a minor offense case. This provision does not apply to minor offenses filed in criminal and underage consuming cases as provided in Rule 17 and