Trial

Traffic Court Trials

For information on Arraignments and Trials, check the Judicial Council's website .  This link will provide you with important information in addition to information provided on our local website, and it provides a Spanish version .

If you plead Not Guilty at your arraignment, a court trial date will be set between 30 and 45 days away on Thursday or Friday according to agency assigned day. The officer will be subpoenaed to appear on the court trial date. If you agree to a waiver of time, your case could be scheduled 45-60 days away.

At the court trial, you will give your testimony and the officer will give his/hers.

The Judicial Officer will consider the testimony and make a ruling on the case.

If you are found Not Guilty, the case will be dismissed..

If you are found Guilty, you may be fined and the Judicial Officer will give you a due date to pay your fine.

Note: If you are found Guilty and you want to attend traffic school you will need to ask the Court if you are eligible at the time of the Court trial. Traffic School is an option to remove the point from your record with DMV and only certain moving violations may be eligible. Please see the traffic school information shown on the website for further details.

Pursuant to California Rule of Court 4.105(b), you have the option to appear in court for arraignment and trial without posting bail. Under rule of Court 4.105(c), bail is required to be deposited if you elect to proceed with trial by written declaration without appearing in court (VC 40902) and/or written not guilty plea (VC40519(a-b)), or elect to pay bail and not contest the citation or appear in court (VC 40510 and 40521).

Friday Court Trials will be set as follows:

  • Attorneys via Zoom (no in person hearings) - 1st and 3rd Friday (CHP tickets only)
  • Pro Per in person - 2nd, 4th and 5th Friday (CHP tickets only)
  • CHP tickets will be heard at 8:15 a.m., 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
  • MPD tickets will be heard in person only at 1:00 p.m. 

For more information on the process and other frequently asked questions, you can check our Frequently Asked Questions section of this website.

For more information on Traffic Court process, traffic ticket basics, and more common traffic topics, you can read the information from the Self Help section of the provided by Judicial Council's website .