Traffic

The Traffic Division handles citations, and tickets written by law enforcement. Some traffic violations and non-traffic violation require an appearance in court but others can be paid or contested by mail or online.

• Guilty - No Contest: Admission of guilt
• Not Guilty: Denial of one or more violations on issued citation
• Officer Court Trial: A trial in which you personally appear, the officer is subpoenaed and both parties testify.
• Trial by Declaration: A method of contesting your citation allowed by §40902 CVC. You and the officer put your statements in writing and the Judge reads these statements and determines the outcome of the case.

Find your Case Number: For the options below you will need to know your case number. Your case number is on your court summons and can also be found on the Online Portal.

Pay Your Fine

If you do not wish to contest your ticket and do not have a mandatory appearance, you can pay your fine directly online without appearing in court.

• Pay Your Fine Online

You can also pay in person at the court or mail in a check by returning your notice to appear with a check to the address listed on the notice.

Request a fine reduction

If you do not wish to contest your ticket but can’t afford to pay your fine, you can request a lower fine, payment plan, more time to pay, or community service.

You can make these requests by filling out the “Can’t Afford to Pay” form, or by appearing at your scheduled court date in person or by video (for certain hearing types), or by submitting a request online with MyCitations.

• Go to “Can't Afford to Pay” Form
• Appear by Video
• Go To Mycitations

Request Traffic School

If eligible, you may request to attend traffic school for an additional fee to prevent your violation from appearing on your driving record. You will have to pay your ticket fine to attend traffic school.

• Request Traffic School Online
• Eligibility and Class Information
• Learn more about traffic school

You can also request traffic school by mail.

Contest your ticket

If you wish to contest your ticket, the Court has a number of options for you to do so. You can appear in person or by video (for certain hearing types) on the date indicated on your summons or request a trial by written declaration or officer court trial without appearing in court.

• Find Your Court Date
• Appear by Video
• Request an Officer Court Trial
• Request a Trial by Declaration

Go to the JCC website for further instructions for trial by written declaration.

Provide Proof of Correction

If your citation is for a correctable offense you may send the court proof that the offense has been corrected and an administrative fee (per your courtesy notice) by your due date.

See the Traffic FAQs below for further instructions on providing proof of correction for a correctible offense.

Click on the frequently asked questions below for more information.

Ability to pay

If you have a financial hardship you may request the court to consider your ability to pay pursuant to CRC Rule 4.335. If you have an upcoming court hearing on your traffic infraction, you can address your ability to pay with the judge at that time. If your case is not already set for calendar, you can contact the clerk at (916) 408-6000 to schedule an ability to pay motion hearing. You must be present at this hearing for the court to consider your request.

Notice to Appear

A bail notice is a courtesy, and you may not receive one. The court date on your citation may differ from the court date on your bail notice. Please note the bail notice court date is your “official” date to pay or appear. Regardless, you are responsible for the citation, and you must follow up by either showing in person on your official scheduled court date, calling or writing a letter/email for information. If you do not pay or appear on your official scheduled court date, a bench warrant may be issued, loss of driving privileges, civil penalties and/or increased bail in any combination will be charged to your case.

Proof of Correction

If your citation is for a correctable offense you may send the court proof that the offense has been corrected and an administrative fee (per your courtesy notice) by your due date. Please do not confuse this type of citation with a “Notice to Correct”. The “Notice to Correct” is issued by CHP and once corrected is to be returned to CHP (within 30 days). Methods of providing proof of correction are to have an officer of any approved law enforcement agency sign the back of your citation, have a representative of DMV sign the back of your citation (for certain registration and CDL violations), then bring copies of your proof directly to the court for the court file or mail copies of your proof to the court by the due date. DMV and/or the police agencies do not send the proof to the court.

Insurance Violations: A copy of the policy covering you or the vehicle being driven at the time that the citation was issued will need to be shown in order for it to be dismissed. If you did not have insurance at the time of the violation, you may show that you or the vehicle you were driving at the time is currently insured for a reduced fee. Police officers may not sign off this violation.

Juvenile

A citation requires that you and your guardian must appear in court on the date and time shown on the citation or your notice. You may request a continuance of this date by writing a letter to the court which must be received at least three court days prior to your court date.

Mandatory Appearance

A citation that has a mandatory appearance requires that you or an attorney acting for you must appear in court on the date and time shown on your citation or notice to appear. You may request a continuance of this date by writing a letter to the court which must be received at least three court days prior to your court date.

Attorneys

There is not a district attorney or a public defender in the traffic courtroom in Placer County. If you are charged with an infraction and would like an attorney, you must contract with the attorney yourself. If you are charged with a misdemeanor and cannot afford an attorney, one may be appointed to you (for reduced fees).

Arraignment

Arraignment is when you will be advised of your rights and asked to enter a plea. Your options when entering a plea are traffic school, guilty, no contest or not guilty. Guilty and no contest are treated the same except that a no contest plea cannot be held against you in a civil action. A not guilty plea will result in the setting of a further court date for trial.

Continuance

A continuance (extension) may be granted upon a written request in person at the clerk’s office. If you are mailing in a request for a continuance make sure that you have notified the court of any change of address. If you requested an interpreter for your court appearance, please call the court at 916-408-6000 to ensure the court is aware of your need for an interpreter on your new date. You may also reschedule your court date online one time.

Failure to appear/Failure to pay fine (§40508(a)/(b)/(c) CVC):

Failure to appear or to pay fines can result in one or more of the following penalties:

• The issuance of a bench warrant
• A bench warrant will only be issued on a misdemeanor charge. You may be arrested and held in jail until your arraignment or you may be required to sign a promise to appear in court at a further date.
• The imposition of a civil assessment of up to $100.00
• Per 1214.1 Penal Code, the court may impose a civil assessment of up to $100.00 against any defendant who fails, after notice and without good cause, to appear in court for any proceeding authorized by law or who fails to pay all or any portion of a fine ordered by the court.
• A hold on your driving privilege and/or registration If you fail to appear a hold may be placed against your driver’s license or registration. This hold may result in your driving privilege being suspended.
• Your fine may be referred to Revenue Services for collection
• Revenue Services may take such action as placing a lien on your payroll, bank accounts or federal tax returns unless you contact them to make arrangements for payments.

Clearing your Failure to Appear

Misdemeanor:

If you have failed to appear on a misdemeanor, then you must appear in court and be arraigned on your failure to appear. The Judge may order a fine for your failure to appear. If they do, once the fine is paid, you can renew your drivers license. You may still be required to come back to court on some further date to provide proof of a valid drivers license. If you live more than 100 miles from court, you may write a letter to the court asking how to clear your failure to appear.

Infraction:

If you have failed to appear on an infraction, then you may pay the full fine that includes the original bail and may, depending on your case, include additional assessments for your failure to appear. If you need an abstract for DMV, there is also an additional $15.00 fee. This amount must be paid in the form of a money order or cash. (DO NOT MAIL CASH) If you believe that you have good cause for your failure to appear, you may request a court appearance. You do not need to pay in order to come to court.

To appear in court for your Failure To Appear: 

Traffic Proceedings are held every Monday and Tuesday at the Gibson Courthouse in Roseville and Fridays at the Tahoe City Courthouse. Hearings are set on a walk in basis. You may check in for court at the Gibson Courthouse during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (morning session) and 12:30 to 1:00 (afternoon sessions) and between 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Tahoe City Courthouse. When you arrive you must check in at the Clerk’s Office. 
Your case will be called in the order that you checked in for court. It can take one or more hours before your case is reviewed in court.
 

In Person Court Appearances

You do not need to appear in court unless you want to contest your citation or your appearance is required. However, you must resolve your case ON OR BEFORE the court date / due date listed at the bottom of your citation.

If you would like to have your case heard in court on a day other than what is listed on your citation, the court hears traffic cases on a “walk-in” basis. *You may come to the courthouse and be placed on calendar that day.

Traffic Proceedings are held every Monday and Tuesday morning and afternoon at the Gibson Courthouse in Roseville and every Wednesday morning at the Tahoe City Courthouse in Tahoe City.

• Gibson Courthouse You must check in for court during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to be heard in the morning session or between 12:30 and 1:00 p.m. for the afternoon sessions.
  • Your case will be called in the order that you checked in for court. It can take one or more hours before your case is reviewed in court.
• Tahoe City Courthouse You must check in for court during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. to be heard in the morning session

NOTE: We encourage you to confirm the court has received your citation before coming to court. You may do so by searching for your case on the court’s on-line portal at https://www.placer.courts.ca.gov/online-services/online-portal

NOTE: *If you have already plead not-guilty and have a pre-scheduled Officer Court Trial, you must arrive on the scheduled date promptly at 8:00am and proceed directly into the courtroom.

NOTE: If you do not have a future court date already set on your case or you previously failed to appear on a case, you may use this walk-in calendar option. Please see “Clearing your Failure to Appear” for more information.