Santa Barbara Traffic Court Records
The Santa Barbara County Superior Court handles all traffic tickets and citations issued within the county. Three courthouse locations process traffic cases across Santa Barbara County California. The Traffic and Minor Offenses Division operates in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Lompoc. Each location accepts payments, processes traffic school requests, and handles proof of correction submissions. You can access case information through the court website at any time. Most traffic matters do not require you to appear in person. The court offers online and phone options for common tasks including searching for your case, paying fines, and checking on traffic school status.
Santa Barbara County Traffic Court Quick Facts
Traffic Court Locations
Santa Barbara County operates three traffic court sites. The Figueroa Division in downtown Santa Barbara serves the south county area. The Miller Division in Santa Maria handles north county cases. Lompoc Division processes citations issued in the western part of the county. Your citation shows which location handles your case. Do not go to a different courthouse. Each site has its own phone number and processes cases independently in Santa Barbara County California.
The Santa Barbara Figueroa Division is at 118 East Figueroa Street. Call them at (805) 568-3959. The Santa Maria Miller Division sits at 312 East Cook Street in Building E. Their phone number is (805) 614-6590. Lompoc Division operates from 115 Civic Center Plaza. You can reach them at (805) 737-7789. All three locations maintain regular business hours Monday through Friday. Check the court website for exact hours before visiting any location.
The official traffic court website is santabarbara.courts.ca.gov. This page lists contact details for all three locations. It also has links to the online portal, payment system, and traffic school information. Most people can handle their case without ever visiting the courthouse in person. Use the online tools first before driving to a location in California.
Online Case Search
Santa Barbara County uses Tyler Technologies software for its online portal. The system is at portal.sbcourts.org. You can search by name or citation number. Both search methods are free. Case details show up right away if the court has processed your ticket. It takes time for new citations to appear in the system. Wait at least two weeks from when you got the ticket before searching online.
The portal shows your current balance, due date, and available options. You can pay online through the same system. Traffic school requests go through the portal as well. If you need copies of documents, the portal has a download feature. Copies cost fifty cents per page. Certified copies require an extra forty dollar fee plus the per page charge. Add the certification cost when placing your order for certified documents in Santa Barbara County.
Credit card payments on the portal carry a surcharge. The fee is 2.9 percent of your payment plus sixty cents. Electronic checks do not have this fee. Many people use e-checks to avoid the credit card charge. Both options process immediately and release DMV holds within one business day in California.
Traffic Fines and Costs
Base fines for traffic violations follow the statewide schedule set by the Judicial Council. Then county and state fees get added. A typical speeding ticket might have a thirty five dollar base fine. After all the assessments, you pay two hundred to three hundred dollars total. The exact amount depends on the violation and your speed if cited for speeding.
Traffic school costs sixty six dollars in Santa Barbara County. This administrative fee goes to the court. You also pay the full bail amount. The traffic school itself charges another fee, usually twenty to fifty dollars for an online course. So your total is the bail plus sixty six dollars to the court plus the school fee. Many people find this worthwhile to keep the ticket off their driving record and avoid insurance increases in Santa Barbara County California.
Payment plans are available if you cannot pay the full amount. The court charges a thirty five dollar administrative fee to set up a plan. They look at your income and expenses to set monthly payments you can handle. Another option is community service. Santa Barbara County credits your work at ten dollars per hour. This rate is lower than most California counties, so you work more hours to pay off the same fine. A three hundred dollar fine requires thirty hours of community service in Santa Barbara County.
If fines go unpaid, the court adds a civil assessment up to three hundred dollars. Your license gets suspended. Vehicle registration renewal gets blocked. The debt goes to collections. Contact the court before your deadline to avoid these penalties. Most people can work out a payment plan or other arrangement in California.
Traffic School Options
You can request traffic school for eligible violations. Most one point tickets qualify. Your courtesy notice tells you if traffic school is an option. The eighteen month rule applies. You cannot have attended traffic school for another ticket in the past eighteen months. California counts from violation date to violation date, not conviction dates.
Some violations never qualify. Speeding more than twenty five miles per hour over the limit is not eligible. Alcohol related offenses do not qualify. Commercial vehicle violations cannot use traffic school. Reckless driving and violations that carry more than one point also disqualify you from traffic school in Santa Barbara County.
Once approved, you have sixty days to complete the course. Pick a school from the DMV approved list. Most people choose online courses for convenience. When you finish, the school sends your completion certificate to the court. The court then reports the conviction as confidential to the DMV. Insurance companies cannot see it. But you cannot use traffic school again for eighteen months from the violation date of this ticket in California.
Cities in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County includes several cities and unincorporated areas. All traffic tickets in these areas go to Santa Barbara County Superior Court. No city operates its own traffic court in California. Santa Barbara is the county seat and largest city. Santa Maria is the second largest. Lompoc sits in the western part of the county. Smaller cities include Carpinteria, Goleta, Buellton, and Solvang. Traffic citations in any of these cities get processed by the county court system.
Note: None of the cities in Santa Barbara County have populations over 100,000.
Nearby California Counties
If your ticket was issued in a neighboring county, contact that county court. Santa Barbara County only handles citations issued within its boundaries. Nearby counties include: