My friend failed to appear for two different court dates. He is late on support payments. There is a bench warrant for his arrest and I'm wondering how long he will be in jail or if he will even be put in jail. Will they put him in jail even if he has a full time job and house to pay for?

Well the short answer is yes they'll put him in jail!

Not only do you state a bench warrant for failure to pay support, but you can add to that one or two failure to appear charges. (FTA)

FTA's are not good to have on your record, it makes you a high risk not only for future court dates, but if you ever serve time, it can disqualify you for low security, as well as make bail much more difficult.

So when the arrest occurs, it would be a huge plus if the person turned themselves in, hopefully with legal representation already in place. Turning yourself in will go along way in lowering your risk and easing the bail conditions.

My best suggestion, get a lawyer, letters of support from work, and family members and friends willing to attend a bail hearing. There is a chance if you turn yourself in at court first thing in the morning, you could be in bail court in the AM and out of jail by afternoon.

If you turn yourself in, at a Police Station, there is a possibility a Justice of the Peace could release you.

With all that said, contact a lawyer from your area, he can contact the police on your behalf and see what can be done. I'll assume if there was a possibility to cover the support payments or at least an effort to make a financial effort to pay something, would go a long way with the courts.

If you are pulled over at random, arrested without being able to contact lawyer, family, etc. it will be a more difficult experience.