Traffic court is a specialized judicial process for handling

traffic ticket A traffic ticket is a notice issued by a law enforcement official to a motorist or other road user, indicating that the user has violated traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, such as exceeding ...

cases. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, people who are given a

citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...

by a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

can plead guilty and pay the indicated fine directly to the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

house, by

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

, or on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

. A person who wishes to plead not guilty or otherwise contest the charges is required to appear in court on the predetermined date on the citation, where they may argue before the

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

or negotiate with the

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

before being called to appear in front of the judge. Most prosecutors will not negotiate with someone who does not have a lawyer. The person may also request a trial by a written declaration in the following states: California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, and Wyoming. In the case of a trial by written declaration, the accused does not have to be present in the courtroom; they may just explain the reason to defense for the case. Officers are required to turn in their declaration. The judge will then make a decision based on the declarations and evidence from both sides. After the written trial, the accused is allowed to request a new in-person hearing if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the written trial, by filing a

trial de novo In law, the expression trial ''de novo'' means a "new trial" by a different tribunal (''de novo'' is a Latin expression meaning "afresh", "anew", "beginning again", hence the literal meaning "new trial"). A trial ''de novo'' is usually ordered b ...

request. More serious charges, such as a

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

or instances where the person in question may be responsible for injuries to another, may require the person to appear in court regardless of their plea. Some municipalities process guilty pleas of this nature without the presence of an actual judge, whereas others may require one to appear in court. Often these charges are handled by the larger criminal court. Each state handles traffic matters in its own way. In most of New York State, for example, traffic matters are heard in the court for the city, town, or village where the alleged violation happened. The town and village courts are known as

Justice Courts In the New York State Unified Court System, a justice court is a local court that handles traffic tickets, criminal matters, small claims, and local code violations such as zoning. Constitutionally, justice courts are part of the state legal syst ...

. Each municipality is free to decide how to handle traffic cases. A similar process is followed in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, though many southern states have varying procedures for paying the fine as a form of pleading guilty. New York City traffic matters (and those of a few other locations) are heard in a special court called

Traffic Violations Bureau The Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB) is an administrative court of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles that adjudicates non-criminal traffic violations (other than parking violations) in New York City.Vehicle and Traffic Law article 2-A ...

, with a very different process. New Jersey handles traffic matters in the Municipal Court System, with the most serious cases heard in

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civi ...

. In Virginia, traffic court is general district court and speeding as low as 81 mph in a 70 is misdemeanor reckless driving. In Washington, D.C., traffic tickets are handled by the Department of Motor Vehicles. In California, tickets are handled in

. Massachusetts tickets are heard in District Courts. In the City of Chicago, traffic tickets issued by Chicago Police Officers with no possibility of jail time are handled by the City's Law Department, frequently by law students. All other traffic violations (including those issued by state police) are dealt with by the Cook County State's Attorney.

References

External links

Traffic Court directory for several statesA Community discussion regarding the Ontario Courts and Procedures for Traffic offenses in Ontario, Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traffic Court Courts by type Traffic law