Q: I parked my car in a legal area, I woke up in the morning to a citation left at 4:00 AM on my windshield for $100
Violation as listed: “Not displaying attached front and/ or rear tag”. Although the officer listed in the notes: “Front plate not attached on public roadway. photo taken”. I keep my front tag in my windshield but last night When it was cleaning before entering the house, i placed it in my passenger seat not thinking anything of receiving a citation . My rear plates are attached. I live in montgomery county and no officer from MOCO has ever stopped me or warned me. I spent a night in PG county (district 5) and this is what happens. Also after looking up the fines on the District court of Md Page, the fine for this shouldn’t even exceed $70.00 as of 10/01/23. Shouldn’t a warning be given out first ?Why is my fine $100? Is this worth requesting a trial for? Will I absolutely need a lawyer or can I contest this myself in person?
A:
Maryland law requires that you affix tags to the front and back of your vehicle. You can request a timely request for a trial and request that the officer that issued the ticket be present. If they fail to appear, you should win. If you are convicted, the judge may cut you a break.
You should handle this yourself. A lawyer will cost more than the ticket.
Lee Eidelberg agrees with this answer
A: I agree with Mr. Scherr. Either pay the ticket as written, or request a trial (not a waiver hearing; that's the same as pleading guilty, athough you can still request a reduction of the fine). Paying the fine results in a conviction of the offense, which will appear on your driving record. However, this offense is not a moving violation and carries no points. Your insurance rates will not be affected (they are impacted only by moving violations, tickets carrying points, and accidents). Insurance companies can only look back 3 years at your record, so after 3 years, they wouldn't even see this. The only real consequence to you is the fine. The offense is a strict liability offense, so you are guilty of not having the front tag attached--there's no defense to the charge. You will be found guilty if the officer shows up for trial, but if he does not appear, you will be found not guilty. If found guilty, then the judge can reduce the fine, or may offer you a "probation before judgment" which will strike the conviction and keep your driving record clean. Keep in mind, although highly unusual and unlikely, a judge has the authority to impose any amount of fine authorized for this offense, which is up to $500.00. The $70.00 you refer to is the fine in the officer's District Court citation book as of the October 2023 edition, which is ordinarily required to be used. You do not cite the exact Code section you were cited under, but TR 13-411(a) is "failure to attach registration plates to front/rear of vehicle". Perhaps he cited a different code section? Either way, you will have to request a trial to contst that $30 discrepancy. Is it really worth it? You do not need a lawyer for this.
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