How Do I Read My Ticket?
Criminal Charges: An appearance in person on the date and time listed on your citation or release agreement is required. Failure to appear will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest.
Violations: If you have received a citation for a traffic or ordinance violation, one of the first things to do is check the court date and time on the citation. You can appear in court on that date and time or do any of the following options listed prior to the court date and time. Failure to appear can result in additional fines, fees, suspension of your driving privileges and being sent to collections.
Violation Process:
Option 1: Provides that you enter a plea of no contest and pay the amount of the presumptive fine stated on your citation. You would no longer need to personally appear on the date given on the citation.
Option 2: Enter a plea of no contest and send/drop off a letter of explanation with the presumptive fine amount enclosed to the court prior to your court date for the Judge to read and make a ruling based on the information you have provided. You will be notified of the Judge's ruling.
Option 3: If you wish to plead not guilty, you can enter your plea at the court window prior to the court date. You can also plead not guilty by submitting your not guilty plea in writing. Your trial will be set for a later date. You will receive a trial notice by mail.
Option 4: Trial by affidavit. By submitting the Trial by Affidavit forms, you waive your presence at trial. It allows you to appear by submitting an affidavit of what happened, the same as you would tell the judge if you appeared in person; the affidavit will be considered the same as a personal appearance. The Trial by Affidavit is your written sworn testimony that is presented to the Judge depicting your side of the story. By choosing Trial by Affidavit, you are giving up your chance to cross-examine the officer. The Judge will review the affidavits submitted and make a ruling.
If you have pled Not Guilty, or are interested in pleading Not Guilty, for a violation or parking citation, and you are interested in having a Trial by Affidavit, please complete the Trial by Affidavit documents. If you want a witness to testify, the witness’ declaration should be included and attached to your submitted Trial by Affidavit documents, along with any other evidence you wish the Judge to review or consider. Parties are limited to one witness declaration in this Trial by Affidavit process. The Trial by Affidavit documents need to be submitted to the court before your scheduled court appearance.
The Judge will make a decision based on all of the declarations and any additional evidence provided. The court will provide an update of the Judge’s ruling via mail to the address listed on the Trial by Affidavit documents. Rulings can take up to 30 days to be received.
If the court does not receive a Trial by Affidavit prior to your scheduled court appearance, your case will be found guilty by default, which means you will be convicted and charged a fine. If left unaddressed, eventually your license could be suspended if the charges were traffic related.