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My girlfriend just got an awesome double whammy, a speeding ticket along with a ticket for failure to get a NV driver's license in the required time.
The cop lead her to believe that if she got her ID situation corrected and appeared in court that the $190 would be waived. Her concern is the associated court costs which makes her think that going to court at all isn't worth it.
Has anyone dealt with this before and can offer some advice on the matter? She doesn't believe me in that it is always better (as in cheaper) to go to court and she wants some further evidence provided by locals to validate my claims.
I have not dealt with anything like that before, but I can offer some common sense advice to the 6,000 that move there each month...obey the speed limit, and legally change your driver's license over to NV within the alotted time limit.
The absolute best way to deal with the LV court system is...not to deal with them at all.
I hate to tell you but the court costs are paid regardless. Most decent judges will lower the fine though and court costs really are not that high to begin with. My advice as a police officer is to appear and act really sorry and try to get the DL infraction lowered or even dropped (but you will have to show a Nevada DL in order for this to happen). You may even get the speeding fine lowered as well, or better yet, points taken off the infraction.
Did she tell the cop how long she had been living there? I have been a police officer in a few states and most had the same law. I get people all the time who tell me they just moved here X number of days ago and there is no way for me to legally verify your time in state. Just tell the police officer that you are a recent transplant and he will most likely drop it. The jusdge will want to see you with a Nevada DL or it may not get dropped so I guess it is a moot point.
The cop saw her registration, which is from August, did the math and figured she was beyond the 30 days to get a NV DL and fined her for it. She was so scared she didn't mention she's a student here and might have avoided it all because they get 45 days.
I still think that despite the court cost she'll come out ahead in this case. That's just my opinion but figuring she makes $35 a day part time, negating a $190 DL ticket is worth it regardless. If she gets her $300 speeding ticket (40 in a 25) lowered it'll be economically fortuitous overall. I just need more affirmation from the locals or cops (thanks cjiski21) to get her to buy into it.
The cop saw her registration, which is from August, did the math and figured she was beyond the 30 days to get a NV DL and fined her for it. She was so scared she didn't mention she's a student here and might have avoided it all because they get 45 days.
I still think that despite the court cost she'll come out ahead in this case. That's just my opinion but figuring she makes $35 a day part time, negating a $190 DL ticket is worth it regardless. If she gets her $300 speeding ticket (40 in a 25) lowered it'll be economically fortuitous overall. I just need more affirmation from the locals or cops (thanks cjiski21) to get her to buy into it.
Actually, according to the DMV website and my interpretation of the law, students claiming an out of state exemption do not have to change over their DL regardless of where the car is registered. Students are exempted at the federal level just like the military. Is she paying out of state tuition? Because if she is, she is an out of state student. My fiance is a full time student at UNLV paying OOS tuition and she has Wyoming plates and a Wyoming DL and has been pulled over already and just told the officer what he wanted to hear. In my line of work I have found that you can get away with anything if you have the right answers.
Try pulling the student card (bring registration recipts and her student ID), the judge may buy it. I've seen it happen. Good luck.
I don't think there is much in the way of court costs. You won't even see a judge. You just go to the courthouse, enter in the separate traffic court entrance, take a number, and a clerk will take your money within 45 minutes. It's only if you want to fight the ticket that you will be given an appt. to see a judge. I was given a ticket for no proof of insurance, which was waived once I presented it to this clerk. I never had to see a judge about it.
She will probably end up paying $95 (half) for the speeding ticket if she agrees to take the traffic school (which takes a couple hours online) and the other ticket will be waived be either getting a NV DL or using the student defense.
There are also ticket fighting services that will do this on your behalf for a fee.
Again, I must thank you all so very much for your help and information. She's on the verge of actually listening to me, a first for all downtrodden boyfriends, hehe. You guys and gals are the best.
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
Las Vegas (justice) Court Costs?
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