Los Angeles County Traffic Courts

[CourtClerk]

Call it a public service announcement, call it a plea to stop PM'ing me a million times but let me explain some things.

March 16, the Los Angeles Superior Court made the decision to lay off 329 employees due to a huge budget deficit.They also made other decisions in order to save money, one was to shut down the traffic call center.

Yes, this is a huge inconvenience for the public as a great deal of people choose not to come physically into a courthouse to handle their traffic matters, however, it should be noted, you may still use the automated system to do things such as request an extension, pay your ticket and request traffic school. What you can't do is speak to a live person anymore.

There have been a few people on this site and others that I have given numbers to directly to speak to someone regarding their tickets. Their situations were either extreme, or I saw something that led me to believe that there was a problem in the processing in their tickets. Believe me, I'd like to give everyone a number to speak to someone, but my reasons for not doing so are two fold:

1. If everyone begins calling into the unit to speak to people regarding their tickets, it slows down the overall process. Those people have to now stop what they are doing to help you and research your ticket and ultimately, that's all they will end up doing all day long. While that's fine for you, that's not ok with the rest of the public because they would like to have their tickets worked on as well. With the last round of layoffs (and more to come at the end of the summer), these people are working harder with less, they are already very busy and overworked. There is no overtime, therefore there's just not enough hours in their 8 hour day. They didn't put the state in this budget mess, they don't deserve to carry the stress of it.

2. Those people that lost their jobs are my friends. The people who remain are also my friends. I'm extremely sorry that it's an inconvenience for you to have to take off work, take hours out of your busy day (and yes, it'll take hours), deal with the backlog and the confusion of this mess, but if enough of you get irritated with the current system (and it's only going to get worse), then maybe you'll press upon your legislators to fix it and get these people back to work. Remember not to take your frustrations out on them. It's not their problem. They didn't write you the ticket and they are only working within the parameters they are given. If you have any issues, your issues are with your government. They can't take every ticket personally, they can't give you their undivided attention 100% of the time, and quite honestly, there are 500 people who are worried about whether or not they are going to have a job in 4 months.

So, if I see something that rings a bell with your situation, I will prompt YOU to PM me. If I haven't done so, then please understand that as well.

/soapbox

[Prwizard]

As a former federal manager, I agree with CourtClerk’s view that government employees shouldn’t be blamed for the impact of budget shortfalls on the public. However, I write as a citizen inconvenienced by the situation you described at the LA Superior Court. I have a red light ticket citation pending before the Santa Monica court and am unable to figure out its status in the administrative process. Perhaps you and other forum members can recommend steps I should take resolve the situation, which I’ll summarize below.

The basis of the case is a citation (C223510) by the Culver City Police Dept. The date of violation is 3-1-12. The date issued is 3-8-12. The citation is in my name because I am the registered owner of the car, which is registered in California. I live in northern Virginia. I am 66 years old. I bought the car involved for my daughter Katie, who resides in LA.

The appearance date was 4-9-12. I contested the violation by requesting a Trial by Written Declaration on 5-28-12. I submitted a check for $480 to cover the bail amount, about which I was notified by mail on 3-15-12. My statement of facts simply stated: “I was not driving the car at the time of the automated decision. I stand by my plea of not guilty and request that you dismiss my case in the interest of justice.”

I have not heard from the court, nor have I been able to connect by phone to a live person at the court. The automated telephone system is not very helpful, nor is the online search function on the court’s website. All the site tells me is: (1) “This citation is not eligible for any online transaction.” (2) The “disposition” date is 3-22-12. (3) last action (“All other”), and (4) “new appearance” date is “07-26-2012 in TBD”.

Meanwhile, the Culver City PD mailed Katie a citation for the same violation but with a different citation number (D223510) dated 3-1-12. The appearance date was 5-29-12. In response to the ticket, Katie submitted a request for a TBD on 5-18-12, along with a check for $480, the bail amount. She has not heard back from the court.

Do I have to appear in court on July 26? What is a “new appearance” date? Did the court render a verdict on March 22? If so, what was it? Under these circumstances, would it be prudent to hire an attorney?

[cmre3456]

Prwizard, I can't answer your questions because there is so much that's new in the system in Calif. I suspect CourtClerk or someone else will.

I belong to another forum which is a political forum. If this were posted there, the thread would probably run to 100 posts about Calif cities, counties and the state mismanaging money. In particular, it would be about where they put their priorities.

I'm sorry that not only you but the employees of the system are caught in this whirlwind. I hope you get this straightened out, and again I believe someone here can help you navigate the "new" system.

Personally I think Calif. should stop writing citations except for the very most serious ones until they get their own act together. For obvious reasons that's not likely to happen.

Good luck.

cmre.

[Prwizard]

Thanks for your response CMRE. I hope you're right that someone in this forum will provide guidance on navigating the LA Superior Court's traffic adjudication procedures in the new environment of "small government" and deficit reduction. No other posts so far except from you CMRE. Meantime I face a "new appearance date in TBD" in 4 days (I learned online) and still no word from the court.

[That Guy]

As a former federal manager, I agree with CourtClerk’s view that government employees shouldn’t be blamed for the impact of budget shortfalls on the public. However, I write as a citizen inconvenienced by the situation you described at the LA Superior Court. I have a red light ticket citation pending before the Santa Monica court and am unable to figure out its status in the administrative process. Perhaps you and other forum members can recommend steps I should take resolve the situation, which I’ll summarize below.

The basis of the case is a citation (C223510) by the Culver City Police Dept. The date of violation is 3-1-12. The date issued is 3-8-12. The citation is in my name because I am the registered owner of the car, which is registered in California. I live in northern Virginia. I am 66 years old. I bought the car involved for my daughter Katie, who resides in LA.

The appearance date was 4-9-12. I contested the violation by requesting a Trial by Written Declaration on 5-28-12. I submitted a check for $480 to cover the bail amount, about which I was notified by mail on 3-15-12. My statement of facts simply stated: “I was not driving the car at the time of the automated decision. I stand by my plea of not guilty and request that you dismiss my case in the interest of justice.”

I have not heard from the court, nor have I been able to connect by phone to a live person at the court. The automated telephone system is not very helpful, nor is the online search function on the court’s website. All the site tells me is: (1) “This citation is not eligible for any online transaction.” (2) The “disposition” date is 3-22-12. (3) last action (“All other”), and (4) “new appearance” date is “07-26-2012 in TBD”.

Meanwhile, the Culver City PD mailed Katie a citation for the same violation but with a different citation number (D223510) dated 3-1-12. The appearance date was 5-29-12. In response to the ticket, Katie submitted a request for a TBD on 5-18-12, along with a check for $480, the bail amount. She has not heard back from the court.

Do I have to appear in court on July 26? What is a “new appearance” date? Did the court render a verdict on March 22? If so, what was it? Under these circumstances, would it be prudent to hire an attorney?

Thanks for your response CMRE. I hope you're right that someone in this forum will provide guidance on navigating the LA Superior Court's traffic adjudication procedures in the new environment of "small government" and deficit reduction. No other posts so far except from you CMRE. Meantime I face a "new appearance date in TBD" in 4 days (I learned online) and still no word from the court.

The reason no one responded with any realistic answers is likely because you should have started a new thread. Instead you posted in a thread that was not only intended to be a single post notification, but one that went undisturbed for over two years... Until you came along. Feel free to post your updated info in a new thread and you'll be sure to get some sort of reply!