Q: 25, College Student, First Time offense for speeding.
Recently i was pulled over for speeding in my neighborhood. i was going 37 in a 25 mph area. i was in a rush to get home after being at college all day because i was falling asleep behind the wheel and i needed to get some Z's soon other wise i would of had a nasty accident. the officer hands me back my license and a citation. There is a court date on my citation but it says "no court appearance required" on it. the fine says 120$ but i have a feeling it costs more than that. is it possible to request Court Supervision before paying the fine if i have no other options? this is my first offense and i really do not want to hurt my driving record. its been clean for almost 7 years since i started driving.
A:
Hello Asker,
Yes, it is still possible to get court supervision. There are two ways to do so. The first is to mail in documentation with a request for supervision. You must read the documentation very carefully so as to prevent mailing in a request for a conviction. A conviction is a public record of the offense and the supervision is a non-public record. For all practical purposes, the primary differences are that convictions are visible to employers and insurance company record checks and they count as "points" offenses on your record. If you (being 21 years or older) receive three "points eligible" offenses issued within a year and are convicted on them, you can be suspended.
While the ticket does indicate no court appearance is required, you are welcome to attend one. If you so so, you can take the other step to request court supervision. You can formally request that the court grant it to you in person. This often comes with higher costs as it will likely include court costs but it is more likely you can avoid other things like traffic school. In addition, you are more likely to receive court supervision if you make the request in person rather than through the mail. If you so choose, you may have an attorney appear for you on your behalf to avoid the need to go to court.
Lastly, assuming it wasn't a school zone, you should be eligible for court supervision based upon everything you have stated. Just remember that eligible doesn't mean entitled. You can request it by mail and you have a decent chance of getting it. You can request it in person and have a very good chance of getting it but will pay more than the former.
Hope that helps and let us know if you have any additional questions!
Sincerely,
Jason A. Wilkins
Traffic Attorney
(630) 445-2293
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