Traffic Court – General Information Print this Page
Phone: (415) 444-7180
Email: traffic@marincourt.org
Location: Civic Center, Hall of Justice, Room C-10
Office Hours: 8:00am - 4:00pm




Citations and Notices

The Court is responsible for filing citations received from all Marin County law enforcement agencies including local police departments, animal control, parks, open space, and fish and game agencies, as well as Marin County citations from the California Highway Patrol. When an individual is cited by a law enforcement officer for a traffic, local ordinance, animal control or other violation, the original citation is delivered to the Court for processing. Please note that the Court does NOT handle parking citations. For information on how to take care of these citations, please click here.

Once the Court receives the original citation from the law enforcement agency, it creates a court docket of the citation and generates and mails a courtesy notice to the person who was cited. This courtesy notice will contain the amount due (called the 'bail'); the deadline to appear in court without additional penalties; information regarding traffic violator school eligibility; and, for any correctable citation (sometimes called a 'fix it' ticket), the requirements needed to clear the citation. For more information on traffic violator school eligibility, attendance and procedures for showing proof of completion, please click here. For more information on the procedures to resolve correctable citations for vehicle registration, insurance or equipment repairs, please click here.

Most citations can be resolved without ever appearing in court, by paying the bail or paying the bail along with requesting traffic violator school or providing proof of correction. A small number of citations require individuals to appear in court. The courtesy notices for these citations will have the words "Mandatory Appearance" on them. Individuals with these citations must appear in court. For information on the requirements for mandatory appearances, please click here.

It can take from a few days to several weeks for the courtesy notice to be mailed. This is because some law enforcement agencies deliver their citations to the Court frequently (more often than once a week) while others deliver them only a few times per month. The Court cannot quote bail or give you information regarding your citation until it is received from the police agency.

The law enforcement officer enters a date, called the 'promise to appear' date, on the citation, approximately three weeks from the date of the citation. This date is very important, as individuals who fail to contact the Court by that date may be subject to fees, assessments and penalties in excess of the amount they would owe on their citations.

Individuals are responsible for contacting the Court, by phone or in person, by the promise to appear date on their citations, whether or not they have received their courtesy notices in the mail

Individuals who do not respond to the courtesy notice by the due date will receive a 'final notice - letter of intent to suspend' giving them one final opportunity to resolve their citations before new penalties, assessments and court sanctions are imposed. Individuals may request a one-time extension of time to pay the bail in person, by mail or by phone. The request must be made on or before the due date.

For individuals who disregard all notices from the Court or who make arrangements to pay the bail or appear in court but do not fulfill these requirements, the Court will impose additional penalties, assessments and sanctions. In addition to significant increases in the bail amount, individuals may also have their drivers' licenses and registrations placed on hold with the Department of Motor Vehicles and may be referred to a collection agency. For information about the collection agency that handles delinquent citations, please click here. For more information about the additional penalties, assessments and court sanctions that may result from failing to resolve citations by the deadline, please click here.

Options to Resolve Citations

Individuals have six options when they are cited. They may elect to:

  1. Pay the full amount on the courtesy or final notice on or before the due date (unless the courtesy notice stated that a mandatory appearance is required.) Payments, and payments with requests for traffic violator school, may be made in person, by phone or by mail. If individuals must show proof of vehicle registration or insurance or proof that an equipment violation has been fixed, these issues can be handled by mail or in person. More information on payment options is available by clicking here.

  2. Request that all or a portion of the bail be converted to community service work. The Court has a community service work program for individuals who cannot afford to pay the bail on their citations. In addition, some individuals prefer community service work in lieu of paying the bail. Court staff can provide timesheets and information on community service work agencies. For more information on this option, please click here.

  3. Pay the full amount on the courtesy or final notice in installments but within 90 days of the due date. These installment plans do not require individuals to go to court to request time to pay; they can be set up by court employees in the Clerk's Office. For more information on installment plans, please click here.

  4. Appear in court and plead guilty by the deadline indicated on the citation or courtesy notice. Individuals who intend to plead guilty to the violations on the citation may appear in 'walk in' traffic court. Individuals sometimes elect to appear in walk in traffic court because they want to, request traffic school when they are not otherwise eligible, or request community service work in lieu of paying the bail. For more information about walk in traffic court, click here.

  5. Appear in court and plead not guilty by the deadline indicated on the citation or courtesy notice. Individuals who wish to contest their citations may schedule a court trial at the Traffic Clerk's Office. The law enforcement officer who wrote the citation will be subpoenaed to appear at the trial. For more information about scheduling a court trial, please click here.

  6. Request a trial by written declaration and plead not guilty by appearing in person at the Traffic Clerk's Office or by writing to the Court to request this kind of a trial. Individuals often choose this option if they live far away from the Court. This option may be used in lieu of a court appearance for individuals who are required to make mandatory appearances. For more information on this option, please click here.


Court Penalties, Assessments and Sanctions for Failing to Comply with Court Processes or Orders

The Court will impose significant monetary penalties and court sanctions on individuals who do not:

  • Pay the bail or appear in court by the deadline on the courtesy and final notices;
  • Perform community service work by the deadline, as directed by the Court and as promised by the individual;
  • Comply with all court orders after going to court, such as paying the fine in one amount or in installments by a due date established by the Court, completing community service work by the due date established by the Court, providing proof of correctable violations, and other orders as determined by the Court;
  • In some instances, the Court may remand the individual into custody in the Marin County Jail.

When individuals are cited for California Vehicle Code violations, the Court will notify Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to place a hold on the drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations of individuals who fail to comply with court processes and orders. These holds will not be removed until violators resolve their underlying traffic cases.

  • For those individuals who fail to pay or appear by the deadline on the notices, the Court will impose a failure to appear penalty to the bail amount and notify DMV to issue holds. For more information, please click here.
  • For those violators who have pled guilty or been found guilty after a court trial or trial by written declaration, the Court will add failure to pay or comply penalties to the bail amount and notify DMV to issue holds. For more information on these penalties and holds, please click here.
  • The Court will also refer delinquent traffic cases to a collection agency, Enhanced Court Collections (ECC). ECC will contact individuals to enforce the Court's orders. ECC has many tools available to collect delinquent fines including setting up payment plans with significant consequences to individuals if they do not comply with these arrangements such as negative credit reporting, wage garnishment and seizure of assets like money in bank accounts.
  • For more information about ECC, please click here.

Legal Assistance with cases filed in the Traffic Clerk's Office

There are resources available to help individuals in understanding traffic court processes or preparing to go to court. Some of these resources include:

  • Legal Self Help Services, located at the Civic Center, Hall of Justice, Room 244, San Rafael. The telephone number is (415) 444-7130.
  • California Courts Online Self Help Center. This resource is available to all Californians who are representing themselves in court. To access this website, please click here.
  • Marin County Bar Association, Lawyer Referral Service, located at 30 North San Pedro Road, Suite 140, San Rafael. The telephone number is (415)499-1314. For more information, please click here.

Links to Specific Topics
Overview

The Traffic Clerk's Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., except holidays. The office is located on the Court Floor of the Marin County Civic Center Hall of Justice in Room C-10. For directions to the Civic Center, please click here.

The Marin County Civic Center has three drive-though arches. From the middle arch lobby only, take the elevator to the "C" floor. After passing through security screening, go left to the end of the hall to Room C-10. For individuals wishing to speak with a clerk in this office, please call (415) 444-7180 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Calls are answered in the order received. Since these phone lines are very busy, the best times to call are early afternoons.

The mailing address is:
Marin County Superior Court - Traffic
P.O. Box 4988
San Rafael, CA 94913-4988

Spanish Language Services

The Traffic Clerk's Office has several Spanish speaking clerks to assist the public and some forms are also available for review in Spanish. In court hearings, there is usually a Spanish language interpreter in the courtroom to assist non-English speakers at these hearings.

 
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