Rick Radcliffe

Everything posted so far is correct in my experience (but we'll talk about the CHP frequent flyer program later...)

My best friend's dad is "the hanging judge" as reported by the LA times.

My tickets cost me the fine AND yard work at his house.

Was the phone at the courthouse busy or did it take you a while to get around to calling? If it was busy, tell the judge that you made an honest effort to call for an extension. Don't BS, they know how busy their phones are. If you were too busy to call, apologize and leave it at that.

The best thing to do would be to come to court with the ticket signed off that the tint has been corrected. That is your good faith gesture.

It never hurts to ask the judge to dismiss the FTA, most will.

If the tint is fixed, you have a 50/50 chance of having the whole thing dismissed. A lot will depend on your driving record. If everything is clean and you appear to be an upstanding citizen, you may be scolded and then dismissed.

Be humble, keep your answers short and sweet. There is very little chance that you can tell the traffic judge something they have never heard before. If you can, that might be good for you.

If you ever wind up in traffic court in Victorville, don't bring your kids and wear Ohio State clothing.

GO BUCKS!!!

maestro300

Now you have me paranoid! I work in Overland Park at Sprint. So what is your % on the tint? Mine was already tinted somewhere around the 25-30% but above the 35% maximum in Kansas.

Odd to me is they usually take that tint-o-meter thing then tell you that it must be removed before your court date. Did they say anything about that? At least tinted to the 35% legal limit.

elctroman

HERE IN N.C you can go talk to the DA ,go try that they might let you just pay the ticket or atleast explain what your options are.

Mick_C5

cost me $52 here in nj, i paid it by mail. do go to court early and make a deal w/da without bs story. they may want to see proof tint is removed, not sure tho.

threewinmag

The truly rude thing here is that tint tickets in Kansas are usually "fix-it" tickets, meaning if you removed the tint and brought the car and ticket back to the ticketing officer, they'd usually dismiss it on the spot, similar to non-functioning headlights. Not to rub salt into your wound, but your real problem here is the "failure to appear." You should have called earlier than the court date and made arrangements. Things are always better if you make contact. Now you've "offended" the court by not showing up. Go! Go early and talk to the Prosecuting Attorney before court and try to make a plea beforehand. You'll probably still have to appear before the judge but the PA will inform the judge that an agreement has been reached.

jw38

I'll never understand this excuse. Oh, and neither will the court!

unionlandlord

Pay a good lawyer and it will go away. A real good lawyer will be able to get it done and you do not even have to show up.

Calling the next day after a first date is to soon. Calling about a court date the next day is to late.

Paul G.

Postergeist

Not to scare you or anything, but my son was a no-show for a driving violation. When he did go in the next day (he had gotten the date screwed up), they threw him in the slammer until his next court date was scheduled. He was bailed out right away, but still a major, major pain... you still have to go through the booking process and sit in jail for a few hours. Judges don't take kindly to missed court dates.

Just wanted to add that you likely have a bench warrant for your arrest. I'd be careful between now and when you plan to go in next week.

Best of luck to you.

Ikester

go to court. tell work you will come in later. court is 2 hours. That would retarted if you got a misdemenor because you couldnt get out of work for a couple of hours

Screamer

You should have just payed it before your court date and you could keep your tint and not have a Bench warrant now.

bizaro

pack a bag we'll leave a light on. Oh, and try the "I couldn't come because of work" and sparks will fly. Better to play it stupid and say you just forgot.

RWVH

Same thing happened to me in OK. Forgot about the ticket , I thought no big deal its not a moving violation. Was passing by the court house one day and remembered about the ticket. Went inside to pay it and the late fee. Told the clerk that I had a ticket that I needed to pay. She looked it up and said you failed to appear on your court date, then a police officer came out and put me under house arrest . When you don't pay your ticket and then fail to appear in court the judge in OK issues a bench warrant for your arrest which is a misdemeanor (Failure to Appear). They held me until my wife came with the money. While I was waiting for the wife, clerk says good thing you stopped in because if you would have been pulled over by a police officer they would have arrested you and impounded your car . A 64.00 ticket ended up costing me 320.00. After I pay the clerk she then informs me that my drivers license has been revoked, failure to appear is also automatic license cancellation in OK . Then your insurance goes up for cancelled license. Always pay your ticket on time even its a non moving violation. Good news was when I went down to renew my license, they had not canceled it yet because of low staff and they had a 30 day backlog . Since I payed the ticket and court costs they didn't cancel my license. Take care of this ASAP !!

JOHN MOORE

This is correct. A window tint violation in NC [GS 20-127(b)(d)] falls under "traffic" (we separate offenses as infraction, traffic, misdemeanor, and felony), and is a $50 fine, plus $110 court cost. The FTA is an additional $50, totaling $210. In NC, this can be paid (waived before the Clerk), and no OFA (order for arrest) will be issued. However, I would speak to the DA's office, as I don't know the laws in other states. (I work for the Clerk of Superior Court in Wilson County, NC.) In NC, and I believe in most other states, this information is sent to DMV, and if you don't take care of it, DMV will "flag" your license (you won't be able to get it renewed when its time). Good luck.

Vampyre

Well you may not, but believe it or not some people have a position that is not easily left.

For example, I run the Email servers here on campus, and I can tell you if the servers are down, I'm not going anywhere, I'd be able to lose my job over that. QOS is a big deal here.

The amount of money lost because email is not functioning could be in the $100,000.00 amount for us within a day.

But I would have also called the court before I was supposed to be there to schedule another time.


One thing.. NEVER miss a Court date. that is bad news!

LMB-Z

If you haven't gotten this taken care of by now, PM me, or send me an email, mcfaulr@txkusa.org, and I will try to help you.

gaucho22

Here in California, the tint has to be removed, and the ticket has to be signed off my an officer prior to going to court.

The violation amount varies from county or city courts, but ranges from 50.00 to 150.00

C5-GIRL

Thanks everyone for your help - I got a lawyer involved, it's gonna cost me a pretty penny, but hopefully everything will be taken care of.


Janelle

Bill Dearborn

You can try to get the court to change a court date because of work and they may help you but their viewpoint is that nothing is more important than a court date and they will enforce that position. It is amazing how much more time is lost if people do not make that date.

Bill

Ol'55

Janelle, You may have before this incident been or not been. But now it's official. You are definitely Bada$$ Just kiddin' Glad to hear everything is covered. Just another "life experience", Right?

PS. No jailhouse tattoos, OK?

C5-GIRL

I wouldn't say Bada$$ - just a girl who likes to keep her car looking a certain way - regardless of the cost

No jailhouse tattoos for me - I have plenty

I'm off to the racetrack (not racing, just watching)

L8R -