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From the information you posted it sounds like you were stopped by a DPS Highway Patrol trooper. The DPS does all of its administrative reporting on a monthly basis, including measurements of productivity like investigating accidents and writing tickets. The last few days of the month are the time when troopers who are short on productivity indicators will go out and play catch up. For future reference, this means that the absolute worst time to be speeding on a highway in Texas is at the end of the month.
The citation will not have a list of standard fines that you can pay in lieu of going to court because the Highway Patrol writes tickets in different JP courts depending on the physical location of the violation. So, as different courts have different policies you have to call the court and get the specific information from them.
If you can prove that you were insured to drive the vehicle on the date you got the citation (i.e. policy was in effect before you got the ticket and not purchased later) the insurance ticket should be dismissed. Since it was not your vehicle, and you aren't named on the policy or an employee or immediate family member of the insured, you will probably have to provide proof that you were covered on the policy by some clause in the policy. Ask the court clerk what they require of you, you may have to go to court with the proof or they might let you mail a copy, but it will depend on what that specific court tells you to do. You definitely don't want to mess that part up, because a conviction on this charge gets you a $350 charge to get/renew a driver's license, your driving privileges could be suspended, and if you get caught a second time it gets really expensive. And if they suspend your driving privileges and you get caught driving, you go directly to jail, don't pass go and don't collect $200.
As for the speeding ticket, that's a relatively simple fix as well. Again, get all the details from the court clerk and follow them exactly like they tell you. It probably can be done through the mail, but depending on the specific court, they may expect you to come to court. In either case, you have to ask permission from the court by pleading nolo contendre (no contest) to the speeding charge and request to take driver's education. The court will require that you provide a certified copy of your driver's license record before, or as part of, the request. No record means no permission. If you have a Texas license you can get the record sent via an online request with the DPS for a small fee. Then, after getting permission from the court, you can take the appropriate course that the court accepts, and provide the proof to the court. You pay a fine and fees to the court somewhere in all of this, probably at the time you make the plea/request. Once all of that is satisfied the court will consider the matter closed, and your driver's license record will reflect that you took a driver's education course rather than a speeding conviction.
Not having a Texas DL may complicate the situation, but I don't believe it will prevent you from taking the driver's education course. Again, ask the court what they want you to do. If it's not either allowed or barred by state law, then it becomes a decision by the judge as to what he/she allows. You might have to (or want to) get a Texas DL before requesting a certified copy, you might have to get certified copies from both states (even if the Texas report says "no record found"), or just get a record from Texas. The reason they want to see your record is to make sure that you have not taken a course during the past 12 months, because you are only eligible for the education course in lieu of conviction once every 12 months.
Last edited by DrLizardo; 11-01-2009 at 11:04 AM..
Fellow people,
Hope you're having a good day. Here is my story:
I was driving back from the airport after having dropped off a friend there - I was driving her car (2001 Volvo with TX plates) and I was stopped by a cop for doing 79mph in a 65mph zone. I didn't realize I was going faster than I should have since I was in a different car and everything. Anyhow here is what happened.
The officer came up to me and asked me for my license and insurance, I told him I was driving my friend's car and would have to call her and ask her where she kept her insurance papers and handed him my license meanwhile. It is a Missouri license since I got it when I lived there for a few years in 2005. Technically I should have changed it over to a TX license but have not done so because the lines for license changes are huge here. Anyhow I told the cop that I went back to MO often on company work and then he asked me how long I have lived here. I said I've been in Houston since 2007 but I go back to MO on business. He took my license and proceeded to write me a ticket. He then radioed me on his loudspeaker and asked me if I had the insurance papers. I showed him my friend's insurance papers which were unfortunately expired as of Oct 21 2009 (She forgot to put the updated papers in her car). He just looked at the date and said that they were expired and went back to his car and walked away while I was still trying to explain to him that the policy number was still valid. He came back and gave me another ticket for the same. When I tried to explain again that the policy number for the insurance was still valid he said that he ran the plates but the insurance did not show up on the car. Basically he gave me two tickets:
1) Violation for speeding 10 percent above speed limit (79mph Alleged vs 65mph posted speed limit)
2) Fail to maintain financial responsibility. (I believe this is for the insurance part)
He then pointed to the judge's name and number and asked me to contact her/him before the due date (Dec 09,2009) and asked me to sign the papers. I signed the insurance ticket since I can provide insurance details (showing present coverage, my friend has emailed me the pdf showing her latest policy coverage so I am hoping this will cover that bit) and dismiss the ticket hopefully. However before signing the speeding ticket I politely asked him if he could give me a warning instead. He curtly told me to sign the ticket and then said if I didn't want citations I should stick to the speed limit.
Can someone on here please tell me what my options are? I'd like to get out of the speeding ticket by doing the driving school if possible. Also, since my license is from MO will this cause me further problems? Please help...this is my first ticket ever and I don't know what I should do...
P.S: The ticket does not say how much money I have to pay. I also went online and looked up to see if I could take the defensive driving course and it says that I must have a Texas license in order to do that. My only option on the ticket is that I must contact the judge at the phone number provided in it.
Pay the fine and learn from your mistakes. I believe that even Volvos have speedometers, keep your eye on it next time and drive the speed limit. As for the insurance issue, that is between you and your "friend". If you bring the updated information to court, most likely the judge will throw out that ticket.
You need to start abiding by the law and slow down and get your license switched over. The law just isn't for "other people". it's for you too.
I don't understand why some here advise her just to pay it. Do not pay it! You do want to get it dismissed.
Getting it dismissed will be cheaper than just paying it. Once it's dismissed, it won't show up on your record. You will save so much money on your insurance as well. One of my friends paid 300 bucks more a year in insurance premiums after her speeding ticket. Depending on your insurance company, it stays on it for up to 5 years. Not getting it dismissed would be such a waste of money.
Nobody has mentioned deferred adjudication from what I've read. After paying court costs, usually you just have to promise not to get another ticket for a period of 90 days to 180 days typically. At the end of your time period, if you've gotten no tickets, your ticket goes completely away. Sometimes deferred adj. is part of the defensive driving class, and sometimes not, sometimes it's amazing what you get if you just ask, afterall it's not as if they actually want you to drive more safely, it's mostly a money getting scheeme.
Thanks to everyone for your replies! Dr Lizardo thanks for your detailed input...
Update:
I went to the DPS here this morning at stood in line, they sent me back for more documentation (letter from employer stating that I worked there_ even though this was not on the website as a requirement. So anyway I went back again and got this done, I have a temporary license from TX until they send my new one out in the mail! Apart from that I called the court and they said that they would not have the information in their system for another 10-12 days. The lady also said I could come by and show them proof of insurance and they would take care of the insurance ticket. With regards to speeding, I would be eligible to do a defensive driving course because I not have a TX license.
A couple of my friends are encouraging me to fight the ticket in court, and saying that the chances of the trooper showing up in court are minimal since Houston is a large city. Also, could you give me more information about deferred adjudication? How does that work? Is that something I should mention to the clerk when I call after my ticket is in their system? So does that mean I pay the ticket + do the defensive driving course and after that if I don't get any tickets for up to 180 days it will be wiped clean slate off my record? Isn't that what defensive driving does anyway?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks to everyone for your replies! Dr Lizardo thanks for your detailed input...
Update:
I went to the DPS here this morning at stood in line, they sent me back for more documentation (letter from employer stating that I worked there_ even though this was not on the website as a requirement. So anyway I went back again and got this done, I have a temporary license from TX until they send my new one out in the mail! Apart from that I called the court and they said that they would not have the information in their system for another 10-12 days. The lady also said I could come by and show them proof of insurance and they would take care of the insurance ticket. With regards to speeding, I would be eligible to do a defensive driving course because I not have a TX license.
A couple of my friends are encouraging me to fight the ticket in court, and saying that the chances of the trooper showing up in court are minimal since Houston is a large city. Also, could you give me more information about deferred adjudication? How does that work? Is that something I should mention to the clerk when I call after my ticket is in their system? So does that mean I pay the ticket + do the defensive driving course and after that if I don't get any tickets for up to 180 days it will be wiped clean slate off my record? Isn't that what defensive driving does anyway?
Thanks in advance!
I didn't do defensive driving in Houston, but usually if you take the class the citation is removed from your records. However, I wasn't aware it took 180 days. I think the 180 days is the time given to you that you must take the class.
A couple of my friends are encouraging me to fight the ticket in court, and saying that the chances of the trooper showing up in court are minimal since Houston is a large city.
That's a roll of the dice and I'm not sure I can give you accurate odds on that.
Some of the traffic courts make your first appearance a non-trial setting (the city of Houston in particular). The officer is not expected in court and you're not going to trial. If you want a trial you can request one at that hearing and they will reset the trial for a future date and issue a subpoena to the officer. In general, officers are less likely to miss trials they have been subpoenaed for than just a regular traffic court docket every Tuesday at 9 am. **Edit - I correct myself, the city of Houston now requires a written request for a trial before the scheduled court date. No request, no trial and if you show up and ask for one you're going to be SOL.
In the past, some of the JP courts didn't have a regular traffic show-up docket and made people request a trial in advance. I would say that it is much more common now for any court to require you to let them know in advance that you want a trial, and thus, increasingly more likely that the officer will be there because he has received a subpoena telling him that he's going to trial rather than just hanging out for an hour or so waiting to see if somebody wants to contest their ticket.
In general, I would say that if they know in advance that you're requesting a trial, the odds are much greater that the trooper will be in court and ready to go to trial. Something could prevent that, but the odds are less likely. What you're hoping for is some kind of system where everybody who got a traffic ticket shows up on a certain day and that's when the state discovers who wants to go to trial and who doesn't. If the trooper isn't there, and you have announced ready for trial but the state isn't ready, then you could find yourself walking out the door with the case dismissed.
The chance you're taking is that you announce ready for trial and the trooper shows up (say they call him in off the highway) and the state announces ready for trial. To get a trial you have to make a plea of not guilty - what do you do when they say "ready your honor"? Will the judge let you withdraw your not guilty plea, change it to nolo contendre and grant a request for driver education - or is he going to say "you asked for a trial and you're getting one"? Who knows, but I think if you want to play this game you need to go find a traffic attorney who plays it all the time. If it doesn't work out for you it could be really detrimental to your driving record and insurance costs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thesfactor
Also, could you give me more information about deferred adjudication? How does that work? Is that something I should mention to the clerk when I call after my ticket is in their system? So does that mean I pay the ticket + do the defensive driving course and after that if I don't get any tickets for up to 180 days it will be wiped clean slate off my record? Isn't that what defensive driving does anyway?
Deferred adjudication and the defensive drive out are two different beasts. The procedure for the latter is set out in state law and all it really accomplishes for you is prevent the conviction from showing up on your driving record. You get it as long as you qualify and do all the things you're supposed to do. There is an entry on your driving record indicating you took a driver safety/education course. Everybody knows what that means, but the insurance company can't jack up your rates based on that because it doesn't show up as a conviction. It also doesn't count for points under the point system for your driver's license costs. It counts as a conviction for the purpose of requesting the same thing again during the next 12-months.
Deferred adjudication is not guaranteed for anybody. It's basically you not fighting the case, the judge finding you guilty, with the conviction not finalized pending a period of probation. If you complete the probation the conviction is set aside and not finalized. It's just almost like it never happened. But giving deferred adjudication is up to the judge, he's not required by any law to offer it or give it.
Deferred adjudication is something you generally see in county and district courts, not lower courts like municipal and JP. It does happen down there, but it's very rare. All courts are different in their policies, and JP's are elected rather than city employees, so they set a lot of their own guidelines. I guess you can inquire with the court to ask them about the judge's policy on this and see if they even have one. My experience has been that it is rare and usually the prosecutor has to be willing to go along, either in your specific case or in some kind of general policy that the judge has worked out.
You will see some courts refer to "deferred disposition" which is really just the DDC option under another name. It is nothing different than what the state law allows. The city of Houston courts have this on their website, but again, it's just what state law gives everyone made to look like something a little different. True deferred adjudication is something altogether different even though the DDC option bears similarities.
In general, deferred adjudication is not a common outcome for many cases regardless of the court or the offense. And of all the courts, I would think JP and municipal would be the least set up to administer that kind of thing. Not that it doesn't happen or couldn't happen, but I think this is one of those things you might have to get all the stars to align just right for you.
My advice is that if you're eligible to get an out on this by taking DDC that is the easiest and safest route. The only downside to that is you have to make sure to complete all the requirements in the time provided, and do your best to not get caught speeding again in the next twelve-months. If you want to do something else, I strongly suggest you get with an attorney who regularly practices in the court your cases is set in.
Last edited by DrLizardo; 11-02-2009 at 12:32 PM..
Reason: Added coh info
Didn't they used to get paid for coming to court? Someone told me that they usually won't show up anymore... cause they don't get paid.
Everybody gets paid for going to court, either as an on-duty appearance (trial takes place during the time they are normally working) or on overtime if it takes place during normal off-duty hours. I'm not sure about DPS specifically, but I imagine it is an overtime issue. It should be for pay, but the state works on this weird monthly basis and I think they might have to accumulate so much time as future time-off before they start getting paid. I might be confusing that with the county though.
I would also imagine that most DPS troopers go to traffic court during their normal working hours, or if it is overtime, they just go in a few hours early. So, that's not as big of an imposition as say a night shift officer going in when he is normally sleeping because his hours are the exact opposite of the rest of the world.
I don't know if DPS still does this, but I remember a former trooper telling me once that they were responsible for the disposition on their citations. If somebody didn't show up to court, they were supposed to go and serve the warrant themselves. I got the impression that DPS was somewhat strict on their employees taking care of business on citations.
HPD has had problems over the years getting officers in court for a number of reasons. They scheduled day and evening shift officers to have regular traffic dockets during their shift, and night shift officers had the first docket in the morning on an overtime basis. Actually, off-duty court time was a special kind of pay that meant they got a half day of pay for going to court and a full day's pay if they spent more than four hours in court. You didn't have much of a problem with the night shift people going to regular traffic docket because they got a half day's pay for what was often less than 30 minutes of sitting around. On duty officers might miss court because they were involved in an investigation, or because they didn't feel like fighting traffic to go downtown and sit in court for ten minutes. Also, the municipal courts switched over to a computerized subpoena system that was an abomination of all things digital. Lots of people never got notified in time.
When they switched off duty appearances from special court pay to regular overtime there was some resistance because so many appearances were a test to see if the officer came to court. The cops weren't too happy about coming in for ten minutes to get a comparatively minuscule compensation.
The city has put municipal courts in all of the command stations out in the outskirts of town, so a lot of appearances can be made by on-duty officers without the hassle of driving downtown. Fewer excuses that way. Also, while officers still have regular court dates/times, they don't have to show up for them. Everyone has to request a trial and that means officers only appear for cases that they will be needed as a witness in. They also ratcheted up discipline for not showing up to court, and included first line supervisors in discipline if they didn't properly check the subpoena system and notify the officer. The allegedly fixed the subpoena system, but I don't know if it works better now or not.
There are still times when officers don't show up (sick kid, traffic, wasn't notified in time, etc), but it's less likely to happen than it once was.
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