Q: If you get a ticket and have to go to court are you already charged or not until court
A:
When you receive a ticket and are required to go to court, you have been formally charged with an offense. The ticket serves as a notice of the charges against you and a summons to appear in court to address those charges.
Going to court is part of the legal process where you will have the opportunity to contest the charges, plead guilty or no contest, or negotiate a settlement depending on the nature of the offense and the specific circumstances of your case. Until the court proceedings are resolved, you are considered to be facing the charges stated on the ticket.
Julie Fowler agrees with this answer
A:
I agree with the other attorney.
However, your citation doesn't receive a court case number until the prosecutor actually files the charge with the court. In the Omaha-area, the prosecutors often don't file the court case until a couple of days prior to the hearing date. On a very rare occassion, a prosecutor will review the citation, find it isn't an appropriate case to file, decline to file the court case, the charge never goes forward, and the hearing date is canceled.
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