Please reference the Terms of Use and the Supplemental Terms for specific information related to your state. Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. What Happens in Traffic Court? Traffic Court Is Different Than Criminal Court Although minor traffic infractions are technically considered crimes in most states, they usually aren't handled in criminal courtrooms. How Traffic Trials Get Started On any given day in traffic court, there are usually quite a few cases scheduled for trial.
The Government's Evidence In most traffic cases, the government's evidence consists of only the testimony of the officer who gave the ticket. The Driver's Chance to Present Evidence Once the government has presented all of its evidence, the driver has a chance to present evidence. And the Verdict Is Talk to a Lawyer Need a lawyer? Start here. Practice Area Please select Zip Code.
How it Works Briefly tell us about your case Provide your contact information Choose attorneys to contact you. Driving Laws. If you do not pay the ticket or appear in court at the designated time, the court will likely issue a warrant for your arrest and place a block on your driver license. The first court appearance is an arraignment. At the arraignment, there will be an explanation of your rights and the pleas you can enter.
You will then be asked to enter a plea. If you do not receive a plea offer from the prosecution you find acceptable, you can plead Not Guilty and move to the next phase of the case. The next phase of the case, if your offense involves possible jail time, is the pretrial hearing. If the offense with which you are charged does not carry a potential jail sentence, your case will be scheduled for a trial rather than a pretrial.
If you do have a pretrial, you should expect to discuss the case with the prosecutor and negotiate an agreed resolution. If you reach an agreement about the resolution, you go before the judge to formalize the agreement.
If you do not reach an agreement, your case is scheduled for the next phase: either a motion hearing or a trial. There may or may not be a motion hearing for your case. Sometimes there are legal issues which can and should be decided before a trial. For those legal issues, you want to file a motion: a document asking the court to issue a decision on a legal issue. In traffic cases, the most common motions request the judge to suppress evidence which was obtained unlawfully. At the motion hearing, the judge hears evidence on the legal issues raised in the motions and issues a decision.
The motion hearing is also an opportunity for further negotiations with the prosecution. Witnesses to the event are helpful for this. The police car was hiding and buried behind some foliage, so how could they make a proper identification?
The driver was pulled over on a busy, three-lane street during rush hour. How can the officer be so sure that the defendant was the one speeding? Using witnesses and records, it is possible to argue that speeding was the reasonable choice, and the courts can throw out the ticket. Was the MPH sign behind a tree branch?
Was it vandalized or missing? Was it present but far away, too far to be seen from where the defendant was pulled over? When arguments such as these are reasonable and demonstrable, the judge may side with the defendant. Signing and accepting the ticket is usually seen as an admission of guilt. The fact that the defendant showed up to court at all can prime the judge to believe that they have an actual defense. If the officer is a no-show, this may be grounds for dismissal. For other situations, try searching for your case using only the case number, ticket number, or call our office at For cases that do not require you to appear in Court, the Court date is your due date.
Should you need more time, please consider appearing in Court on your due date to ask for more time to pay. Please visit our website at www. You may also call our office at We can only confirm warrants that we have entered, so if you have a warrant through another court, this office may not be able to access the information.
As long as no appearance is required, you may pay the ticket and the case will be closed. Note: If you pay a ticket, you have essentially entered a guilty plea and waived your right to contest the ticket in Court. Our address is South High St. We are open to the public 7 days a week 24 hours a day. After the case or cases are completed, please allow at least four to six weeks to receive your refund.
The good news is that the post marked date on the envelope is the official date received. As long as the post marked date shows that you mailed your payment on or before the Court date, you will not be charged a late fee and your case will reflect payment in full. This depends on several factors such as if you had any other suspensions recently. Please call our Civil Department at This question is best answered by the BMV.
Please call for more information. Depending on the size of the request, we have at least 72 business hours to fulfill requests. Larger requests may take longer. Our records are public, meaning anything we can give you, we can give to anyone else.
We always redact Social Security numbers. A case disposition is the final outcome of a case, whether it was a dismissal or conviction. We do not have access to or jurisdiction over jail records. Each agency requires their own specific documentation. Consult the appropriate agency to see what documents are needed.
Typically, we provide a standard disposition for these requests. Again, this differs among agencies. Scroll to top of page What is Arraignment Court? Scroll to top of page If I received a traffic ticket and due to appear in Court, which Arraignment Courtroom should I report to? Scroll to top of page How long can I expect to be in court? Scroll to top of page How will I know when my next court date is? Scroll to top of page How can I obtain an attorney? Scroll to top of page How do I find out someone's bond amount?
Scroll to top of page What should I bring to court? Scroll to top of page I was subpoenaed as a witness on a case.
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