Pasadena Traffic Court
Traffic tickets in Pasadena are handled by Los Angeles County Superior Court. The city has no traffic court of its own. All citations go to the county for processing. This includes tickets from Pasadena Police or California Highway Patrol. You can search for your case online. The court website offers many services. Payment and traffic school requests can be done through the portal. Cases take time to appear in the system. Wait at least three weeks from your ticket date before looking it up. The county processes over one million citations per year across all locations.
Pasadena Traffic Court Quick Facts
Which Court Handles Pasadena Citations
Los Angeles County Superior Court processes all traffic tickets for Pasadena. The county has sixteen traffic court locations. Your citation shows which courthouse handles your case. Pasadena residents typically use the Pasadena Courthouse for hearings. Some cases may be assigned to other nearby locations based on where the violation occurred.
The court serves the largest county in California. More than one million new traffic citations get filed each year. Processing takes time because of the volume. Do not expect your ticket to show up right away. The system needs several weeks to enter new cases. If you try to search too soon, you will not find anything.
Misdemeanor traffic cases go to the criminal division after January 1, 2016. This includes reckless driving and DUI. Only infractions stay in the traffic division. Most tickets are infractions. These include speeding, red light violations, and equipment issues. The court website explains the difference at lacourt.org. You can also find a list of all sixteen traffic court locations on the same page.
Los Angeles County uses a different case management system than many other counties. The online portal charges fees for some searches. A name search costs four dollars and seventy five cents. Downloading documents has fees based on page count. One to five pages cost one dollar per page. Six or more pages cost forty cents per page. The maximum charge for any single document is forty dollars.
Search Traffic Cases in Pasadena
The county provides online case access. Go to the public access portal to search. You need either your case number or your name. Name searches cost money. Case number searches may be free depending on what you want to view. Basic information shows up without payment. Full documents require fees.
The portal works twenty four hours per day. You can search any time. Court staff do not answer questions through the portal. If you need help, call the courthouse where your case is assigned. Each location has its own phone number. The main traffic page lists contact information for all sixteen sites in the county.
Case records go back to different years depending on type. Criminal felony records start from 1980. Misdemeanor records begin in 1988. The court keeps traffic records for three years after the case closes. After that time, old cases may be destroyed. If you need an older record, contact the court clerk. They can check if the file still exists or has been archived.
What to Do About Your Ticket
You have choices when you get a traffic ticket. Pay the fine if you do not want to fight it. Request traffic school if you qualify. Contest the ticket by asking for a trial. You must act before your appearance date. That date is on your citation. The court will mail you a reminder notice. This notice explains your options and shows the bail amount you owe.
Waiting for the notice is not required. You can take action before it arrives. Some people never get the notice in the mail. That does not excuse you from the deadline. The appearance date on your ticket is what matters. California courts say this on their websites. Do not wait too long to decide what to do.
Extensions are available in Los Angeles County. Ask before your deadline passes. The court may give you more time to pay or to decide on traffic school. You cannot get an extension after you miss the date. At that point, the court adds penalties. A civil assessment of one hundred to three hundred dollars gets added to your balance. The DMV also puts a hold on your license until you take care of the ticket.
Traffic School for Pasadena Tickets
Traffic school keeps the conviction off your public driving record. Insurance companies cannot see it. Your rates will not go up because of the ticket. The DMV keeps the record confidential. You must meet eligibility rules to use traffic school in California.
First, you cannot have gone to traffic school for another ticket in the past eighteen months. This period runs from violation date to violation date. Second, the offense must be a one point violation. Third, you cannot have been driving a commercial vehicle. Fourth, the violation cannot be alcohol or drug related. Fifth, you cannot have been speeding more than twenty five miles per hour over the limit.
The court reminder notice tells you if traffic school is an option. If you qualify, you must request it before your appearance deadline. The fee to request school varies by county. You also pay the full bail amount. Then you pay the traffic school itself. Most people choose online schools. These cost twenty to fifty dollars in most cases. Your total cost is bail plus court fees plus school fees. You have sixty days to complete the course after the court approves your request.
Pick a school from the DMV approved list. Visit dmv.ca.gov to see schools that are currently licensed. Do not use a school that is not on this list. The DMV will not accept completion from unlicensed schools. This means you paid for nothing and the ticket stays on your record.
Pasadena Traffic Courthouse
The Pasadena Courthouse is one of sixteen traffic court locations in Los Angeles County. Check your citation to see which courthouse handles your case. Going to the wrong location will not help. Each courthouse serves specific areas. Your case assignment depends on where the violation happened.
All Los Angeles County courthouses have different hours and services. Some offer night court on certain days. Others only have morning sessions. The county website lists details for each location. You can find addresses, phone numbers, and hours of operation there. Use this information to plan your visit if you need to go in person to a courthouse in California.
Pay Traffic Fines in Pasadena
Online payment is available. Go to the court website. Credit cards and debit cards work. The court may charge a convenience fee. This fee varies based on payment method. You can also pay by mail. Send a check or money order to the address on your notice. Write your case number on the payment. Do not send cash through the mail.
If you cannot afford the full amount, ask about a payment plan. The court looks at your income. They set up monthly installments based on what you can pay. There is a setup fee for the plan. Spreading out payments helps many people. Another option is community service. You work off the fine at a set dollar amount per hour. The court approves volunteer organizations where you can do this work.
California has an ability to pay program. Visit mycitations.courts.ca.gov if you get public benefits or have low income. The system asks questions about your finances. If you qualify, your fine may be reduced. This program started statewide to help people who truly cannot afford to pay standard amounts in California.
Other Large Cities Near Pasadena
Los Angeles County includes many cities over one hundred thousand population. All use the same Superior Court for traffic cases. Cities near Pasadena with their own pages include the following:
Los Angeles County Traffic Court
For complete information about traffic court in Los Angeles County, including all courthouse locations, fees, and procedures, visit the county traffic court page: