Citrus County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller’s Post

Transcript

Hi, welcome back to Clerk's Corner. My name is Jennifer Kirby, a court Services Director here at the Citrus County Clerk of Court and Comptroller. And today we're going to discuss traffic citations. How does the clerk's office help someone who gets a ticket? Once the citation is filed with our office, we'll process it timely, validate the information to send to FHL SMV and make sure that it appears on the driving record correctly. And when the customer comes in with the citation in order to satisfy it, we will walk them through their options. How much is a traffic ticket? So this depends on what offense or violation the officer cited. All civil penalties are determined by statute and by county ordinances. The most common penalties that we see coming through our office range between 113 dollars and $281.00. But there are exceptions like failing to stop for a school bus, that violation and penalty is $371. Speeding in a school zone or work zone construction. Zone can go as high as $456 depending on the speeds sighted and other variables such as if there are workers present in the construction zone. Improper writing or having your wheels off the ground is A civil penalty for the first offense is 1166 dollars. What are my options? Proof tickets? Options vary depending on the violation that's listed on the citation. So, for instance, if a person is cited for failure to provide proof of valid registration, insurance or drivers license, that customer can, within 30 days of issuance of the citation, bring in that proof that was valid at the time of the stop and pay a dismissal fee of $10 if the proof was not valid at the time of the stop, but it's valid at the time of payment. The customer can come in with that valid proof and pay the full penalty that cites listed on the citation. Another option is the clerks option or a plea of nolo contendere. A customer can elect this once in a 12 month period or three times in their lifetime and it allows a person to pay a reduced fine amount of $93.75 for registration or drivers license or $75.90 for insurance. In order to elect this, they would need to make that payment, submit a clerk's option affidavit and provide proof that the registration, insurance or drivers license. Is now currently valid. What are my options? Non moving violations? For non moving violations this is for instance window tint or a seat belt violation, a person can pay in full. They can enroll in a payment plan and make monthly installments to pay the full penalty. Or they can elect a not guilty plea, which is where they want to contest the citation and be seen in front of a traffic hearing officer. What are my options? Moving violations? For moving violations such as speeding or running a red light, a customer has the option to pay in full. To enroll in a payment plan or do the not guilty plea in request for hearing. Same as with the non moving violations. With moving violations however, points are assessed to the driving record if paid in full or going on a payment plan. So there are other options available such as taking a four hour basic driver improvement course and after electing that within the first 30 days a person does have 60 days to complete it and then points will be withheld from their drivers license. Another option is called a plea of no contest. This is where you fill out a form and you submit it to us. We will go ahead and take that and submit it to the judge along with your driving record and the judge can review and determine whether or not to approve that request or that plea. If it is approved, the adjudication is withheld and points will not be assessed to your driver's license. If it is denied, your case will be set for hearing. This traffic school required if someone gets a ticket. Our office will never require a person to take traffic school for a moving violation that points can assess on your driving record. A person can elect traffic school if they're eligible. There are some instances where FLH SMV does require a person to take traffic school in addition to the penalty. Examples of this can be failing to stop for a school bus or running a red light, and there are some additional examples in the link below. What are the eligibility requirements for traffic school? When a person asks. For election of traffic school, there are three questions that we ask #1 have you elected to take traffic school in the past 12 months? If no, have you elected to take it five times in your lifetime? If no, do you hold a commercial drivers license? If the answer is no to all three questions, that person is more than likely eligible. When we talk about an election for traffic school, this means if you've ever elected it, it does not matter whether you've actually completed it, and it does not matter if you've elected it in another county. If you've ever elected in the state of Florida, it counts. How many points go on a license when a ticket is received? The amount of points that go on your driving record is determined by FL HSMV and it depends on the violation. The points typically range between 3:00 to 6:00 and can be found at the link below. What are the payment options for a traffic ticket? So as we've talked about, a person has 30 days to make an election in order to satisfy their citation. And if that's not done late, these are assessed to the case and the license is submitted for suspension. But if the person comes in and the suspension is pending and the citations paid in full, including the late fees, we can absolutely clear it right here in our office. If the suspension has already taken effect and the person comes in or contacts our office, we can still go ahead and take that payment and we can reinstate right here too, avoiding a trip to another agency. What should you do if you have questions about today's episode? Thank you so much for joining us this week for Clerks Corner. If you have any questions regarding traffic citations, please feel free to drop a comment below. We'll see you next week for our next episode.