Western Washington Traffic Violations Attorneys
Defending Against Traffic Violations in Port Orchard
At Glisson & Morris, our attorneys have handled hundreds of speeding tickets over the years. However, we understand that not all clients want to hire a lawyer for their traffic citations.
Get started on your defense with a free consultation. Contact us!
How to Respond to Non-Criminal Traffic Infractions
If you are going to fight a speeding ticket yourself, consult the law and the court rules for infraction cases.
How can you handle your own traffic case? First, always respond on time. The ticket will tell you when you have to respond, usually 14 days. If you don’t take action by the deadline, the citation will be found committed, and the fine imposed. Many courts also charge an additional fee (up to $52) for your failure to respond.
Explore Your Options for Traffic Infraction Resolution:
- Payment of the Ticket: You can mail the ticket with payment and have no other obligations. The ticket will be deemed committed and appear on your driver’s abstract (depending on the type of ticket).
- Deferred Disposition Request: With some limits, most tickets are eligible. You can normally make this request at either a contested or mitigated hearing. This means, if you have no other infractions, the ticket can be dismissed after a year or less. A driver is only allowed 1 deferred (1 for moving violations, 1 for non-moving violations) in 7 years, so use it wisely. Call the court clerk before the hearing to make sure the judge allows a petition for deferred at your hearing. Courts charge their own fees, commonly around $200.
- Contesting the Ticket: Send the ticket back with a request for a contested hearing. Talk to the court clerk about how to get a copy of the officer’s report, because it will be used as evidence against you. Also, you can subpoena witnesses, including the officer, if you need them to prove your case. Ask the clerk for assistance in getting subpoenas properly signed and served. A contested hearing is like a trial. The government may have a prosecutor there (in Kitsap County, they will). If the judge finds, by a ‘more likely than not’ standard, that you committed the offense, they will determine the infraction committed, and it will appear on your driver’s record. You will likely be assessed the full amount of the original fine.
- Mitigation Request: The judge will find the infraction committed; it will appear on your driving record. But the judge will usually reduce the amount of the fine. The reduction is rarely more than about 30% of the original fine, but different rules apply to different infractions.
Every case is different, every client’s priorities are different, and we recommend you make a fully informed decision about how to handle your situation! Please be aware infraction law is very complex and has many variables. The information above is generic and may not apply exactly in your case. Do not accept it in the place of actual legal advice from an attorney who has reviewed the facts and law of your individual circumstances.
If you don’t want to fight the ticket yourself, we handle traffic infraction in Kitsap County courts. Call our attorneys at Glisson & Morris at (360) 526-8191, or contact us online for your free consult!