Road Law – February 2022
There are procedural steps you can take to help yourself when you receive a basic traffic ticket. Yes, navigating any court system can be frustrating, time consuming, and a little tricky. However, you do have the right to represent yourself if you want to, and as always we hope this information is helpful.
Q: I got a speeding ticket in Ohio, and the bottom of my ticket says I only have 10 days to come to court. I’m from Florida, and I don’t go through Ohio regularly. I want to fight my ticket, but how am I supposed to come back to court in 10 days?
A: You have some options when you are prevented from actually appearing in court within 10 days. You can call the subject court and ask the clerk if you can mail or fax in these three things. First is your plea of not guilty. Second is a waiver of time (waiving time is very common and simply means that you’re waiving your right to a speedy trial). Third is a request for a pre-trial conference and/or hearing. If allowed by the court, by following these three steps you will generally not have to appear in court on the date listed on your original ticket.
Once you receive your hearing notice in the mail, you’ll usually have a lot of time to schedule a return trip to Ohio to appear in court. However, you also may be able to request your case be heard via telephone, Zoom, Skype or other teleconference options that would alleviate the necessity to physically appear in person.
Q: I got a ticket in Montana, and I’ve been trying to call the district attorney in the county where I got the ticket but can’t reach anyone. I don’t have a designated run through Montana and don’t know if I’ll ever have a load back to this area. I don’t want the ticket on my driver record, so what do I do?
A: Unfortunately, it’s been our experience that many of the courts in sparsely populated, western states – i.e., Montana, Wyoming, Idaho – are very difficult to deal with, and a district attorney in one county may also be the district attorney in all the surrounding counties as well. So we certainly understand just how difficult it is for you when trying to make contact with someone regarding the disposition of your case. Also, keep in mind that not all prosecutors get involved with traffic cases, and it may just be the citing officer and the judge who handle your case.
One option is to call the court clerk to ask if there is a prosecutor that handles traffic cases. If so, simply ask if you can request a hearing via regular mail. In some cases, the prosecutor doesn’t get case information until a hearing is requested, and, if this is the case, then you should be able to make some progress by having a date set instead of trying to contact someone who has no idea about your case. If the court clerk allows you to submit your plea by mail, once you receive your new trial date you should have enough time to make plans to appear in the subject court on your new date or you can ask if you could appear for your hearing via Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, etc. LL
Send any questions or comments regarding transportation law to: Jeff McConnell and James Mennella, Road Law, 3441 W. Memorial, Suite 4, Oklahoma City, OK 73134; call 405-242-2030, fax 888-588-8983; or contact them via RoadLaw.net.