Q: Will a speeding ticket show up on my record before I go to my court date?

A: Hello Asker,

First, let me clarify that taking traffic school (the colloquial way of referring to court supervision) does not mean it will "dismiss the ticket on [your] record". This is a common misconception based upon how effective court supervision is at keeping certain violations non-public. As a technical matter, it is no visible to most of the public if you get supervision but it is not dismissed. The case is still considered a violation on a non-public portion of your record which can be visible by mostly police, prosecutors, attorneys, the driver themselves, the court, and of course, the secretary of state who compiled the record. For a more detailed explanation, it would require a full consultation to give the specifics of supervision vs. conviction. Suffice it to say, the primary difference for most people is that for most offenses like speeding, supervision, when completed successfully, prevents insurance companies and most employers from seeing it.

Second, the ticket shouldn't be on your record because the court driving record is compiled by the secretary of state. They receive violations as the court reports them. Reports are only sent from the court AFTER a ticket is dismissed or given a judgment (conviction, supervision, etc). Therefore, the ticket you are currently going to court for will not be on your record yet because no judgment has been reached yet.

As a last point, I would caution against requesting traffic school and avoiding court appearances if you have had a ticket in the past year. As a standard practice, most prosecutors deny requests for supervision under these circumstances so you should take caution in making such a request if this is your situation. Instead, it is best to go to court if you would like to receive court supervision in most settings.

Hope that helps and let us know if you have any questions!

Sincerely,

Jason A. Wilkins

Traffic Attorney

(630) 445-2293