Tulare County Traffic Court
Traffic cases in Tulare County are handled through two Superior Court locations in Visalia and Porterville. The court processes thousands of citations each year from California Highway Patrol, city police departments, and county sheriff. You can search your case online through the court portal once it gets entered into the system. This typically takes four to six weeks from the date on your ticket. Most traffic matters can be resolved without going to court. Online and phone services let you pay fines, request traffic school, or set up payment plans from home.
Tulare County Traffic Court Quick Facts
How Traffic Court Works in Tulare County
Tulare County operates traffic court at two locations. The main courthouse sits in Visalia at 221 South Mooney Boulevard in Room 201. A second location operates in Porterville at 300 East Olive Avenue. Both handle traffic citations but your ticket will tell you which courthouse to contact based on where the violation occurred. Call 559-730-5000 for the Visalia office or 559-782-3700 for Porterville.
After you get a ticket, law enforcement sends it to the court for processing. This takes time. The court mails you a courtesy notice once they enter your case. This notice shows the total bail amount you owe and lists your options. You can pay the fine, request traffic school if eligible, or ask for a trial. The appear by date on your ticket is your deadline to respond. It is not a court hearing date. You must take action by that deadline or face penalties.
The court website at tulare.courts.ca.gov provides information on traffic services. You can find forms, fee schedules, and contact information for each courthouse. The online portal lets you search cases and make payments around the clock in Tulare County California.
Courthouse Locations and Hours
The Visalia courthouse is the larger of the two facilities. It sits on South Mooney Boulevard in downtown Visalia. Traffic services operate in Room 201. The office is open Monday through Friday from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. Parking is available in nearby lots and on the street. Visalia is the county seat and serves the northern part of the county.
Porterville courthouse handles the southern portion of Tulare County. The address is 300 East Olive Avenue. This location also operates Monday through Friday during standard business hours. If you are not sure which courthouse handles your case, check the citation. It will show the court location. You can also call either office and staff will direct you to the correct location for your ticket.
Both locations accept walk in visits but many services can be done remotely. You can pay online, request extensions by phone, and submit traffic school requests through the website. In person visits are best for complex questions, getting documents certified, or speaking with a clerk about payment plans or ability to pay requests in Tulare County.
Search Traffic Cases Online
Tulare County provides an online case search portal at online.tulare.courts.ca.gov. You can look up your case by citation number or case number. The system shows your charges, bail amount, due date, and payment status. Searching is free for basic case information. Some advanced features may require fees.
Once you find your case, you can pay online if the case is open and eligible. The portal accepts credit cards and debit cards. A convenience fee gets added to your payment. This fee goes to the payment processor, not the court. After you pay, print your receipt. The payment posts within one or two business days. You can check the portal again to confirm the payment went through in Tulare County California.
If you do not see your case online yet, wait longer. It can take up to six weeks for new citations to appear. If more than six weeks have passed and your case still does not show up, call the court. Sometimes there are delays in processing or data entry. The clerk can look up your citation by the number on your ticket even if it has not posted online yet.
Traffic Fines and Payment Options
Fines follow the statewide uniform bail schedule. Base fines are set by the Judicial Council. Then many fees and assessments get added on top. Court operations fees, state penalty assessments, and county charges can triple the base amount. A simple speeding ticket might start at thirty five dollars but cost over two hundred dollars after all the additions in Tulare County.
If you cannot pay the full amount, ask for a payment plan. The court looks at your income and sets up monthly payments. You need to make a down payment when you set up the plan. The court may also charge an administrative fee. Stay current on all payments or the plan gets canceled and more penalties get added to your balance.
Another option is to request a fine reduction through the ability to pay program. If you receive public benefits like SSI, Medi-Cal, or CalWORKS, you may qualify for a lower fine. You can also qualify if your income is at or below two hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty level. Apply through the statewide site at mycitations.courts.ca.gov or ask the Tulare County clerk for an application.
Record searches cost fifteen dollars per name if the search takes over ten minutes. Certified copies are forty dollars plus fifty cents per page. A certified dissolution decree costs fifteen dollars. Allow fifteen business days for the court to process document requests in California.
Traffic School in Tulare County
Traffic school keeps your conviction confidential. Insurance companies cannot see it. But you can only use school once every eighteen months. The eighteen months is counted from the violation date of your first ticket to the violation date of the new ticket. If you are not sure whether you used school in the past eighteen months, call the DMV or check your courtesy notice.
The administrative fee to request traffic school in Tulare County is sixty eight dollars. This is higher than some other California counties where the fee is fifty two dollars. You also pay the full bail amount for your citation. Then you pay the traffic school itself. Schools charge between twenty and sixty dollars depending on which one you pick. Most people choose online schools. You can complete them at home on your own schedule.
After the court approves your traffic school request, you have sixty days to finish the course. Pick a school from the DMV approved list at dmv.ca.gov. Do not use a school that is not licensed. The court will not accept the completion certificate. When you finish, the school sends the certificate to Tulare County Superior Court. The court reports the conviction to DMV as confidential. It goes on your record but only law enforcement and courts can see it. Insurance companies cannot access it.
Some violations never qualify for school. Speeding over twenty five miles per hour above the limit does not qualify. Commercial vehicle violations are not eligible. Neither are alcohol related offenses or reckless driving. If you were involved in a collision at the time of the violation, the court may also deny traffic school. Check your courtesy notice or call the court to confirm eligibility before paying the fees in Tulare County California.
Extensions and Deadlines
Tulare County allows one sixty day extension from your original due date. You must request the extension before your deadline passes. You can ask for an extension online, by phone, or in person at either courthouse. There is no fee for the extension in most cases. But once the extension ends, no more time is given. You must respond by the new deadline or penalties get added.
If you already missed your deadline, contact the court right away. Explain why you missed it. The court can sometimes remove late fees if you had a good reason like a medical emergency or family crisis. But this is not guaranteed. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to fix. Civil assessments of up to three hundred dollars get added for failure to appear. The DMV puts a hold on your license. Your registration renewal gets blocked. Collections agencies get involved and add more fees on top.
Nearby California Counties
If your citation was issued outside Tulare County, you need to contact the correct county court. Tulare County only handles tickets written within its boundaries. Check these nearby counties: