I wish they'd just look all this stuff up for me instead of asking all these questions. They're going to do a background check anyways!

January 21, 2009 1:31 PM

How can I find out how much I paid for my speeding tickets back in 2001 and 2002. In California.

So I'm applying to take a bar exam this coming July, and they ask an insane amount of questions. I'm supposed to list any traffic violations I have that had a fine of $200 or more. I requested my driving record from the DMV, and I have a list of my tickets. I only have two, but it doesn't indicate what the fine I paid was, so I have no idea if I have to list them.

Is there someway I can look up how much I paid for each ticket? I tried looking up the cvc section I violated, but it doesn't list a fine amount.

I have a ticket for violating cvc 22350 and another for cvc 22356B. I have a docket number for each ticket and a court number if that helps. Where can I find this information?

Thanks!

posted by Arbac to law & government (3 comments total)

Call the court where the docket was filed?
posted by Brennus at 2:55 PM on January 21

Apparently you are looking for the California Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules for 2000 and 2002.

For traffic, boating, forestry, fish and game, public utilities, parks and recreation, and business licensing cases.You must contact the court where a case is filed to get local bail information for that court. The judges in each county adopt a countywide bail schedule that sets bail based on the requirements that apply to that jurisdiction. Each countywide bail schedule may have bail amounts that are different from the council's bail amounts. Per here, anyway. Unfortunately that site only links to PDFs of the schedule as far back as 2005.
posted by Asherah at 5:29 PM on January 21

The bail schedule is what I was going to recommend, but, regarding the VC22350, you would also need to know which category of excess speed you fell into: 1-15, 16-25, or >26 mph over speed limit.

If it was 1-15 or 16-25 mph, you probably paid less than $200 (these are less than $200 now and the bail schedule generally only goes up each year).

However, the schedule for VC22356(b) is for a total of $350 now - though it was lower in the past, it was probably still over $200.

To give you an better idea, here's the 2003 bail schedule:
www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/2003bail.pdf

See the speed chart on page 28.

Alternatively, you can ask to review your case file at the court where it was filed - it's likely in their archives so you probably cannot get it the same day you ask for it and there may be a small fee for retrieval and/or copying.

That being said, best practice is to just include the offenses - it's unlikely that these offenses would have an impact on your moral character application.
posted by unclezeb at 6:00 AM on January 22