$25 ticket turned into $426

June 4, 2009 1:51 PM

Is it worth showing up in court to see if a citation fee (that I don't contest) might be reduced? I live in Los Angeles county.

I was recently cited for having a burnt out headlight in Los Angeles County. I was given time to get a confirmation that it was fixed, and I had the choice to either show up at the courthouse with proof that it was done, or to simply send in a $25 fee with the proof of correction.

I got the light fixed and the confirming signature, but forgot to send it in on time and mailed it in two weeks late.

I received a letter in the mail today returning my check and proof of correction and saying that the new fee accrual was $726, which includes the court bail of $300. If I don't contest the fee, I can mail in a check for $426, which is less the bail amount.

The letter said this: "You may pay the reduced amount of $426 by 6/12/2009 in full or see the judge for payment arrangements (The judge may or may not reduce the citation amount)."

Is it worth setting up a court appointment to see if there might be a reduced amount? It's hours out of my day if I were to make arrangements to go, so I'm trying to weigh if I should go or just pay the fine. I have no previous citations, if that matters.

Thanks for any feedback.

posted by SpacemanStix to law & government (8 comments total)

I had something similar in Orange County: a speeding ticket that never came in the mail, which I never bothered to deal with until I got a notice of a bench warrant for "Failure to Appear." Going down to appear in court in person and basically telling the judge, "Sorry, I screwed up, can you reduce the fee, pretty please?" knocked a few hundred bucks off of it.
posted by infinitywaltz at 1:54 PM on June 4

No experience with this, but if you go you should emphasize that the repair was completed before the original due date.
posted by ecsh at 2:03 PM on June 4

Yeah. Go in, explain what happened to the judge. No guarantees, but it's definitely worth a shot. Be sure to specifically bring up a request for a fee waiver or reduction. Bring your checkbook.
posted by jabberjaw at 2:06 PM on June 4

Cool, thanks much for the feedback. That's enough sound advice to get my butt into court.
posted by SpacemanStix at 2:32 PM on June 4

Except the way California traffic courts work, you aren't going to make a "court appointment," you are going to go to court on traffic day and wait in the cattle call of other people in the same predicament (well... they'll mostly have speeding tickets) for your name to be called. Find out what time your division opens and get there bright and early. Up here in the north, it's not likely you'll even get IN if you show up more than an hour or so after the courthouse opens. I can't imagine it's better down there.
posted by rkent at 3:34 PM on June 4

I went to traffic court in santa monica a few months back. It was quick and painless. Good luck!
posted by milinar at 5:09 PM on June 4

I've got a night court appointment this upcoming week. We'll see how it goes!
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:13 PM on June 4

In case anyone just happens to drop by this thread...

My actual court date was tonight (not two months ago, I initially misread the reservation date), and it was definitely worth showing up for. It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be. I explained the situation to the judge, and she dismissed the failure to appear charge, with a total cost of $10 for the dismissal fee and $25 for the original light processing fee. Total cost: $35, which is quite a bit better than increased fine.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!
posted by SpacemanStix at 8:21 PM on August 10